Messes of the Heart
by wordslinger
Summary: Jellal considers himself a professional educator... but kindergarten is an adventure everyday and the mother of his newest student renders him speechless at every encounter. Kids are tough but flirting is tougher. Jerza. Various background pairings. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

"Mister Fernandes?" A shy voice spoke quietly behind him.

"Hm?" He turned to see one of his kindergarten students, Wendy, wringing her hands and glancing toward the door that lead to the bathroom adjacent to his classroom. "What is it, Wendy?"

"Well…" The little girl chewed her lip as if debating whether or not to speak her mind. Jellal knew her to be a bit of an anxious child, and he didn't think she'd come to him on her own unless she felt the situation important. "It's Sting and Rogue, Mister Fernandes, they're fighting in the bathroom and I don't think you'll like it."

Jellal sighed and tried to smile at Wendy; it took a fierce effort to not gnash his teeth in anticipatory irritation. "Thank you for telling me, Wendy. Why don't you go back to your group, and I'll check on them, okay?" She smiled at him brightly and wandered off.

The bathroom looked as if several buckets of paint had exploded, and without the incoherent pattern of tiny handprints littering nearly every available surface that would've been his first assumption. The two boys stood amidst the mess glaring at one another. Jellal sighed heavily. He loved his job, he really did, but sometimes he wondered what in the hell was wrong with him that he would intentionally keep a profession that exposed him to such senseless madness. Five and six year olds were a _mess_.

"So which one of you is going to explain to me what's happening here?" He said sternly.

 _"It's all Rogue's fault!"_

 _"Sting started it!"_

Both boys spoke in unison and Jellal realized his mistake.

"Okay, never mind. I want the both of you to follow me to the nurse's office where you will shower this mess off." On the way out of his classroom Jellal tapped his aide on the shoulder. "Juvia, I need to go handle this, will you be okay alone for a little bit?"

"Of course, Mister Fernandes. If you'd like, I can take them for you?"

"No, it's fine. I need to speak with their parents myself." He grabbed both Sting and Rogue's backpacks and marched them through the halls of the school to the clinic. There would be nothing pleasant about commandeering Porlyusica's space, but he couldn't let these two troublesome boys spend the rest of their afternoon in dirty clothes and it felt like overkill to have them collected by guardians.

 _"Absolutely not."_ The school nurse crossed her arms over her chest and attempted to stare down Jellal. "My facilities are for emergencies only, and not to coddle children who have no sense of self-control." She glared at the two boys, who silently shrunk behind their teacher, before returning her ire to the man invading her clinic. "And I dare say you should let them remain in those filthy clothes as punishment."

"Well now, Porlyusica, that seems a little harsh don't you think? I wouldn't want to stain their hair or skin." Jellal leaned against the door frame of the clinic entrance. Sting and Rogue fidgeted nervously in the hallway; the nurse employed by the school often came across as scary when she had her feathers ruffled.

"You know as well as I do, _Mister Fernandes_ , the paint used in the kindergarten classrooms is non-toxic and completely washable."

"We won't take up more than ten minutes of your time, and I'll make sure the shower is just as clean as we found it." He smiled his best smile. "By the way, is that a new sweater?"

Porlyusica narrowed her eyes menacingly. "Young man, I am twice your age and that flirting will get you nowhere." Jellal's smile fell; he should've known better. Finally she sighed dramatically. " _Fine_. Ten minutes, and you will make sure every drop of paint is down that drain." She turned on her heel and shut herself in her office.

Jellal breathed a sigh of relief, but cringed at the sound of Sting snickering behind him.

"Oh, my _god_ , Mister Fernandes, you're so crazy!" He ushered the boys into the bathroom before Porlyusica changed her mind.

"You hush. I could still call your mother and send you home. Is that what you want?"

"Actually –"

"Just stop. You're in enough trouble for fighting _again_. The paint is a whole other level of wrong." Jellal pointed to the row of seats against the wall in the main clinic area. "Rogue you have a seat over there. Sting, I'm going to leave your backpack right here by the door. It has your clean clothes inside. Hurry up and get cleaned off."

"Mister Fernandes?" Rogue tugged on the edge of his shirt. He turned and the little boy gazed up at him sadly. Jellal sat next to him on the row of seats.

"Do you want to go ahead and give me your half of this story now?"

Rogue sighed and swung his feet back and forth. Even his shoes had a spatter of purple paint. "It- It was my fault, Mister Fernandes. I started the fight."

"Really, Rogue? That's so unlike you. What happened?"

"Well, I was washing the rinse cups in the bathroom like Miss Lockser asked me to and I accidentally spilled the dirty water on my shirt. See?" He pointed to a muddy-looking wet spot on his chest. "Sting saw it and laughed at me."

"I see."

"I didn't mean to push him… it just kind of happened." Rogue bowed his head and picked at the hem of his shorts. "My mom is going to be so mad at me for ruining my clothes." He sniffled and Jellal felt horrible.

"Listen, Rogue, I'm going to have to tell your mom about the fighting, but I know there's a washing machine in the athletics department that the older kids use. We'll see if Coach Redfox will let us borrow it, okay?"

"Really?" Rogue's eyes sparkled with unshed tears.

"Yep. And if it's being used we'll still rinse the paint out in our big classroom sink. I promise we'll fix your clothes."

"You're the best, Mister Fernandes!" The boy wiped his tears and smeared paint across his face. At that moment Sting trudged from the bathroom looking like a wet cat – despite his clean, dry clothes.

"Go ahead and take your turn in the shower, Rogue. Sting and I need to have a chat." Jellal turned to the blonde boy next to him and leaned back in his chair.

"I know what you're gonna say," Sting mumbled.

"You do?"

"Yep. You're gonna call my mom and tell me I need more self-control." Sting exhaled heavily and glanced up at him. "My mom says I'm just like my dad and get fired up too easily."

"Well I wouldn't argue with your mom on that point."

"She says I need to think more before doing stuff."

"She's right about that, too."

"I didn't mean to make Rogue mad like that." He shrugged. "I just thought it was funny is all."

"Rogue was very upset about it, and I think you laughing at him made the situation worse than it needed to be."

"Well he shouldn't be so touchy!"

"Sting, it's important to be mindful of other people's feelings. Rogue isn't like you. Things don't just roll off him. Some people need more care than others, you know? You've really got to pay attention to how your words and actions might make others feel."

"My mom told my dad once that he should think more and say less."

Jellal stifled a laugh. He'd met Sting's father on two occasions, and it was obvious where the boy got his somewhat aggressive nature. "Your mom sounds like a smart woman."

Sting shrugged. "I think she's just used to my dad being so dumb sometimes."

"Listen, here's what's going to happen. We're going to take your dirty clothes to the locker room the big kids use, and see if we can't wash them. Then, we'll go back to my office and call your parents."

"Do you think Rogue will be mad at me forever? He's the only friend I've got."

Jellal smiled. "I think if you apologize to him, and mean it, he'll be alright. Remember what I said, though. He's more sensitive than you and friends need to look out for one another. Okay?"

"Thanks, Mister Fernandes."

Gajeel Redfox was not Jellal's favorite person. He was loud and brash and the kids all loved him, but his seemingly hinged jaw set Jellal on edge. Sting and Rogue weren't old enough to have a reason to wander in and out of the athletics locker rooms regularly and were thoroughly impressed by the facilities. They trailed behind him as tried to locate the head coach.

"Yo, Fernandes! What's a guy like you doing down here on my turf, huh?" Gajeel's voice carried and echoed off the cinderblock walls of the locker room. "Hey there, tiny dudes. You're kinda small to be throwing footballs and soccer balls around, but come see me in a few years." Sting and Rogue had stars in their eyes and nodded emphatically. Jellal tried not to let his own eyes roll into the back of his head.

"Could I maybe borrow your laundry facility for a load of clothes that have paint all over them?"

Gajeel laughed loudly. "Did you have a battle break out in your classroom, Fernandes? I don't know how you handle the little ones all day." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "Sure you can use the washer, just don't forget about the stuff you put in there. Things get lost easily down here." The coach stepped past them and waved at the two small boys before walking off. "Later, half-pints!"

"Wow," Rogue mumbled.

"He's so cool!" Sting gushed.

"Yeah, well…" Jellal trailed off. Better to practice his own rules of not making un-kind comments than let some repeatable – and regrettable – comment slip in front of a boy like Sting who said all manner of things completely off the cuff.

He let the boys toss in their own dirty clothes before starting the cycle and setting a reminder on his phone to come back and switch them to the dryer.

"Okay, boys, let's go. Everything should be clean and dry by the time you go home today. After lunch we'll call your parents." They followed him back to his classroom and he found that Juvia _, bless her_ , had cleaned the bathroom of all paint remnants.

It was only ten in the morning and Jellal desperately wished for a nap.

Sting's mother, Lucy, was a long-suffering woman, Jellal decided. Her husband was quick of temper and tongue but short on common sense. He explained what happened with her son and Rogue, and she was very apologetic and understanding. Lucy thanked him for attempting to explain to salvage Sting's friendship with Rogue and confirmed that the wild-ish little boy had a hard time making friends.

Rogue's mother wasn't available to speak with him and he could only leave her a voice message. Jellal was pretty sure the woman picked her son up from the school herself everyday so he would personally sit with Rogue after the final bell and wait for her. He assured Rogue he wasn't in trouble, on his end at least, and together they inspected his clean clothes. When the boy was satisfied they were spotless he carefully folded them and placed them in his backpack.

Jellal hadn't ever met Rogue's father and there was no mention of him in the boy's file. He'd been out sick the day Rogue had been enrolled so he hadn't met his mother in person either. It was obvious when she showed up, though, because Rogue's eyes brightened and he ran to her. Jellal tried not to stare. The woman was stunning and when she smiled at him his mouth went completely dry.

"I just got your voicemail, Mister Fernandes, and I am so sorry for missing your call."

"Uh, no, no it's fine. We resolved the situation and –" he cleared his throat awkwardly. "It's all fine… now." Jellal had a master's degree in early education and child development with a minor in pedagogy and Rogue's mother had effectively reduced him to a stuttering mess.

"I know that Rogue and Sting have an odd friendship, and I truly appreciate you trying to cultivate it. My son can be pretty shy. I'm glad he has a friend."

He cleared his throat and tried to focus on anything but her inviting brown eyes, and red hair that practically glowed in the sunlight. "Right, well, kids at this age don't always display the most appropriate social behaviors. They get along with each other most of the time, and I think today was just a spiral of events."

"Regardless, I'm grateful." She knelt down to her son's level. "Why don't you wait for me in the car, okay?" Rogue waved at Jellal before climbing into his mother's back seat. She turned back to him and stepped closer. "Listen, it's been really hard for Rogue since his father died last year –"

"Oh! Oh, I had no idea…"

"It's fine. I mean, they weren't incredibly close, and to be honest he wasn't around very much anyway. I think, though, Rogue had a fantasy that Bacchus would clean up his act and be a better dad at some point. He's taking the reality of it as well as he can, but I can't force him out of his shell."

"He's a pretty sensitive kid, but once he gets into something he likes he'll let people in. He and Sting are a good pair, I think. Sting needs to take things down a notch, and Rogue needs a little push sometimes."

"He does. I'm grateful he has a teacher who's so intuitive. Thank you so much, Mister Fernandes." She reached out to shake his hand, and he took it. He didn't want to let go.

"I look forward to seeing how the rest of the year plays out for him Miss…"

"Call me Erza." She smiled at him once more before releasing his hand and joining her son in the car.

"Right. Erza."


	2. Chapter 2

As soon as his front door shut behind him Jellal dropped everything in his hands to the floor. He stepped over the mess and headed straight for the bathroom to wash his face. When he turned the faucet handle, though, a rumbling was all he got. He repeated the action three times more before finally accepting the truth. The water was out in his building again.

Jellal kicked off his shoes and fell back onto his bed in resigned irritation. A sudden pressure restricted his breathing and a pair of bright green eyes stared down at him.

"I'm sorry, Milli-girl, it looks like we've got no water tonight." The fluffy brown cat nudged her nose into his hand and settled onto his chest. "I'll run down to the corner store in a few minutes to get some gallon jugs."

Milliana dug her claws gently into his shirt, and Jellal sighed.

"I guess I'll be going now, then." He sat up and the cat relocated herself to the top of his dresser. After changing into more casual clothes he re-laced his sneakers. Milliana had a thing for shoe laces and he'd replaced this particular set three times one year. He grabbed his keys and turned to his companion. "I'll be gone for a little bit, okay? Make good choices while I'm out."

On the ground floor of his building a bright yellow notice detailed the water outage. He'd missed it on his way in, and felt foolish. He could be on his couch right now instead of back out and buying water jugs if he'd been paying attention even halfway. The streets of Magnolia were crowded as it was the height of evening rush hour and dark clouds gathered on the horizon. He passed a few street merchants attempting to secure their kiosks before the rain poured down and ducked into the small shop on the corner.

The beverage shelves were nearly empty, and he grabbed the last four gallon jugs of water. As he piled his purchase on the counter the cashier smiled at him when he greeted her.

"Hey, Cana."

"Water's out again, huh?"

"Yeah. I really need a new apartment." The bell on the door chimed and a mother with three children entered the shop. The kids fanned out and the woman headed to the back aisle.

"Well don't migrate too far away, I'll miss your business! You pay for my drinks later with your expensive cat food purchases."

"Ah, well." Jellal blushed. He supposed he did spoil Milliana a little bit. "She's much easier to handle when properly bribed."

"Excuse me, ma'am?" The woman with the children interrupted. "Are you really out of bottled water?"

Cana grimaced apologetically. "I'm sorry, but we're completely out. You could try the market on Fourth Street, it's only a few blocks –" At that suggestion a clap of thunder rattled the windows and rain fell from the sky in sheets. "away… _Wow_."

Jellal hesitated for one painful second before turning to the woman and stepping to the side. "You can have these if you want. I don't have kids with me and don't mind walking."

Cana smirked and the woman's mouth fell open.

"No, that's –"

"It's really fine. I don't mind at all." He pushed the jugs toward her and she smiled gratefully.

"Thank you so much, I _really_ appreciate it."

"No problem." Jellal waved at Cana who just slowly shook her head at him. "I'd better get going if I want to make it home before the lightning."

His clothes were wet, his hair dripped in his face, his shoes squeaked on the floors, and the air conditioner was mercilessly frigid, but the market on Fourth Street was much larger than Cana's shop and had plenty of water jugs. Jellal was actually grateful to be back outside in the warmer, albeit wet, climate after making his purchase. As he trudged through the rain back to his apartment his thoughts drifted to the encounter with Rogue's mother.

Jellal had been teaching since he was twenty-three and fresh out of college and, now with four years of experience under his belt, he'd discovered that getting too close with parents sometimes created an environment that lead to pressure for favoritism amongst his students. Not all parents expected special treatment for their children but at a school like Fairy Tail Montessori Academy, where money spoke the loudest, it wasn't completely out of the realm of possibility. The last thing he needed was to develop a crush on the widowed – or perhaps they'd divorced? He wasn't sure – mother of a student still coping with the death of a, however problematic, parent. Best to squash the feeling before it turned into a feasible temptation. Not that he suspected she'd felt similarly stunned by him – _not at all_ – but regardless of details, it was a complication he didn't want or need.

Milliana glared at him from her perch on the bookshelf when he finally returned home; she didn't like the rain and probably blamed his extended absence for the storm. The cat gracefully leapt from the shelf onto the couch and patiently waited for him to fill her water bowl, which he did before filling a glass for himself. When she was properly fed and watered, Jellal examined the contents of his freezer and wished he'd grabbed something more interesting than frozen pizza from the market, but there was no way he would trouble anyone for takeout or even consider leaving the shelter of his apartment again before morning. So pizza would be his fate.

He shed his clothes for the second time that evening and joined his cat, who was studiously cleaning her whiskers, on the sofa. She crawled onto his chest and settled into a fluffy ball with half-closed eyes.

"So you've decided to forgive me for causing this deluge outside, huh? Is it because I fed you early?" Jellal ran his hand over her soft fur and remembered a time when there'd been much less of it. Milliana hadn't exactly been a planned companion. He'd found her cowering behind a stack of boxes near his building's trash bins nearly two years before. She was underfed, and so severely infested with fleas that she'd itched herself a few bald spots. The sight was so pathetic he hadn't even thought twice about it before scooping her up and dropping a few hundred dollars on vet bills. His girlfriend at the time hadn't been amused.

"You _can't_ just bring home a strange cat, Jellal!"

"Why not? She doesn't have a home and I just couldn't leave her there!" As if sensing she was being discussed the scrawny cat had pushed her head under his chin and purred loudly. "I think she likes me."

Sorano had only rolled her eyes. " _Of course_ she likes you. You bought her that ridiculously expensive food and a fleece pillow."

In the end, the cat had lasted, but Sorano was long gone. Jellal couldn't say he missed her. They'd wanted different things out of life and he hadn't had the inclination to date anyone since.

The next morning, when he realized the water still hadn't been restored, he left home early so he'd have enough time to use the showers in the boys' locker room and still be in his classroom on time. The morning passed smoothly enough and Jellal found himself spending his free lunch period in a fellow teacher's classroom discussing his frustrations regarding his living situation. Ultear was an old friend and had helped to get him his initial interview at Fairy Tail. They didn't often have the same free periods, but when they did he usually tried to snag her shoulder to cry on when he felt especially bothered by something.

"I don't know why you haven't moved yet. That building is a hovel." She picked at her salad and smirked. "Do you have a secret gambling problem or a mountain of credit card debt I don't know about? You can certainly afford a better place."

"No, I just hate everything that goes along with moving. Apartment hunting is such a hassle and even _thinking_ about packing makes me want a nap."

"You know you can hire people to do that kind of thing for you, don't you?"

Jellal wrinkled his nose. "I don't want strangers packing up my stuff."

"You're so weird about certain things, Jellal." She shrugged. "I'll give your number to a friend of mine. She just got her real estate license and I bet she could help you out."

"I don't want to _buy_ , Ultear. Just rent."

"Are you afraid of commitment or something?"

"No! I just don't want to buy a house right now. What if…" He trailed off feeling his face grow warm. "What if I want more space later?"

"You're an adorable romantic." Ultear tossed her salad bowl into the trash and tapped her fingernails on the table. "It's not completely uncommon to buy and sell houses."

"But I don't _want_ to buy something and know in the back of my mind that I'll just sell it later. It seems so… _nihilistic_."

"There's that master's degree! I knew it was in there somewhere." She laughed at him. "Sometimes I wonder about you with all that education teaching kids barely out of diapers how to hold pencils and read books with cardboard pages."

"You've always been a ridiculous cynic, you know that? I like teaching kindergarten. It's challenging and I really think that with a firm foundation –"

"Spare me your didactic philosophy. It's pedantic."

Jellal chuckled. " _Now_ who's using their degree gratuitously?"

"Go back to your crayons, Jellal. And I'm giving Meredy your number. She's going to call you and she _will_ help you move from that prehistoric building to somewhere more appropriate. I'd hate for Coach Redfox to catch you in the showers again." Ultear winked at him and he blanched.

"You heard about that?"

"Oh, sweetie, _everybody's_ heard about that by now."

"Great," he mumbled. "Have your friend call me. _I guess_."

"Honestly, you can't bring women home to where you live now. It's embarrassing."

"Hey! I've had girlfriends there before!"

"There's a difference in being twenty-three, and twenty-seven. I know you know this. You're just being petulant."

Jellal gathered his lunch trash. "I'd rather be petulant than supercilious." He fled Ultear's classroom before she could retort with another ridiculous word that he couldn't match on the fly.

He made it a point to avoid the front of the school after dismissal. Seeing Erza again so soon would only add fuel to the fire he suspected already burned. He'd dreamed of her hair the night before and lord help him, he had enough on his plate without an inappropriate, and thoroughly unprofessional crush. Especially if he'd be moving soon. Damn Ultear and her meddling!


	3. Chapter 3

Meredy called him two days after Ultear promised to give her his phone number. Jellal was grateful she called at the hour she did because he didn't want to have to multi-task the way he would've had he still been at work. She sounded younger than him and very excited about her job. He hoped he wasn't about to disappoint her.

"I don't know how much Ultear told you or if you can even help me, but I'm not really looking to buy a house or a condo –"

Meredy laughed. "She did tell me that much, Mister Fernandes, and I get a commission either way. Why don't you tell me what you're looking for and I'll see what I can do."

"Please just call me Jellal. I hear Mister Fernandes all day long."

"Ultear mentioned you were a teacher. Jellal it is, then. What are your requirements?"

"Well, I would like something with two bedrooms and preferably reliable utilities."

"Reliable utilities?" She hesitated and sounded confused.

"My current building seems to have some issues with water distribution and there are a lot of outages."

"I can see how that would be troublesome. Do you have pets?"

"I do. A cat that stays indoors. So no in-house cleaning services or anything like that; I can't have her escaping." Milliana brushed against his leg and hopped onto his bed.

"And do you smoke at all? Or require a balcony to do so?"

"No, I don't smoke but I'm not opposed to a balcony."

"And what kind of price range are we looking at?"

"If you could keep it under seventeen-hundred, that would be great. I'm paying a whole lot less than that now, but I think it's obvious I'm getting what I pay for." Meredy laughed again and he decided he liked her. "Do you think you can help me?"

"Absolutely! I have a couple of ideas that I should follow up on before sharing them with you, so how about I call you tomorrow and we can schedule a time to look at some locations?"

"Sounds great to me. I have a free lunch hour at noon, and I could leave the school as early as three-thirty."

"I will definitely have some leads by then. I'll talk to you tomorrow, Jellal!" When she hung up he tossed his phone to the side and pulled Milliana into his lap.

"Looks like we're going to be moving, Milli-girl. How do you feel about that?" Milliana turned in a tight circle on his thighs before settling. She looked up at him and meowed languorously. "I think you'll be happier with some new scenery. Maybe I'll be able to finally take all my books and shelves out of storage. I bet you'd like that, huh?" The cat simply squeaked at him in her way before closing her eyes.

The next day he met Meredy at an apartment complex clear on the other side of town. She wasn't hard to spot and it wasn't even her cheerful, pink hair that gave her away. It was the entire package. Meredy was a small woman with a bright smile and she appeared at his side as if out of thin air as soon as he stepped from his car.

"It's so nice to meet you, Jellal!" He shook her hand and noted that she smelled strongly of floral body spray. Not an unpleasant thing, but he suspected the scent would linger on his clothes. "When Ultear described you to me, I didn't expect you to be so tall! That's a _fantastic_ tattoo, by the way! Very unique."

"Uh, thanks. It's a family… thing." Her perkiness made him feel a little bashful.

"Well I've already borrowed a key to the layout we'll be looking at here so if you'll just follow me this way." Meredy led him through a series of vine covered archways, across a courtyard, and up a flight of stairs. The very idea of dragging all his belongings through such a complicated path made his eye twitch.

The apartment was very nice, but the floor plan didn't appeal to him. He didn't want the only bathroom to be right off the kitchen. It felt odd. Meredy didn't flinch or cringe when he told her he didn't like it. She only smiled and gave him directions to an apartment building in a neighborhood he knew to be near the school.

Jellal spent less than five minutes touring the empty unit before deciding he wanted it. No carpet for Milliana to shred, a much more comfortable lay out and private laundry facilities. The application process was shorter than he expected and Meredy seemed pleased that he'd been so decisive.

"I'm sure you'll be very happy here, Jellal. It's a newer building and the amount of time you've worked at the same place will help speed things along. I'd say it won't take more than a couple of days to hear back from them."

"I hope so. I need to give my notice to vacate by the end of next week if I want to move this year." Meredy shook his hand again and promised to call him as soon as she got his application back before leaving him alone in the parking lot. As he drove home he decided that Ultear was right. He would absolutely hire a moving company. Jellal wanted no part of hauling any of his stuff up three flights of stairs.

The following afternoon, as he was packing up his bag to leave his classroom for the day, he received a text message from Meredy that he'd been approved for the apartment. He was so engrossed in replying he didn't hear the knock on his classroom door or the clicking of heels across the linoleum floor.

"Mister Fernandes?" A voice he could swear he'd heard somewhere before startled him and he not only dropped his phone but sloshed fruit punch flavored vitamin water all over his white shirt. He turned around quickly and immediately wanted to sink into a hole in the ground. Erza stood on the other side of his desk looking apologetic. "I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to disturb you. The receptionist said I could find you here…" She quirked an eyebrow at the hasty way he wiped at his shirt with a handful of napkins. "Is this a bad time?"

"Uh, no! No, of course not. I'm…" He sighed and tossed the wad of napkins in the garbage. The shirt would have to be soaked later. "I was just distracted. What can I do for you?"

"Are you sure? Because I can come back or if email is better…" Erza trailed off.

"Now is perfect. I'm just on my way out." She smiled and Jellal desperately tried not to be enchanted by it.

"Well, it's not a big deal or anything but Rogue mentioned you were looking for volunteers to help with the school's fund raiser booth at the Harvest Festival next month and I just wanted to see if there was anything you needed help with. The receptionist mentioned you were on the board."

"Uh, right. The board. Yes. I am co-chair and this is the first year I've been in charge of anything…" He dug through the stack of papers on his desk looking for the packet of information. "Forgive me, I'm a mess today. This carnival thing is more of a beast than I thought it would be when I took it on."

"It's fine, Mister Fernandes –"

"Jellal. You can call me Jellal, if you want."

"How about I give you my email address and phone number and you can get back to me on what you need? I work from home most of the time so I'm usually available unless I'm meeting with a client."

"That would be nice of you. I can't seem to find my notes right at this second. I'm sure they're at home where my cat has made a bed of them." He handed her a pad of sticky-notes and watched her write out her contact information. His interest was purely professional. _Professional!_ Erza returned the pad to him and his fingers brushed hers briefly. He _hated_ the way he loved it.

"Please let me know if you need any help with anything. I want to be involved and Rogue is very excited about the carnival."

"Have you been before?" The question slipped out before he could consider the personal nature of it.

"No, we only moved here from Crocus a few months ago just after school started. I've been meaning to meet with you, actually. I've only spoken with your aide before the paint incident."

"Ah, right. Yes, I was home sick that week Rogue started. It seems like big things only happen when I'm out."

"Besides the occasional spat with Sting, he's adjusting well?"

"He is! I'm pleased with the progress he's made and I think being exposed to a multi-age classroom is good for socialization. He's… quiet."

Erza's eyes fell to the floor and her shoulders sagged. "I'm afraid that's partly my fault. Before we moved I had a job that required a lot of office hours and, as I said before, his father wasn't much of a presence. We weren't even together by the time Rogue was born –" She paused and her cheeks reddened. "I'm sorry that's probably too much information. My point is Rogue spent a lot of time with a caregiver at home. It's important to me to make up for that as much as I can. It's why I work from a home office now."

"He's very intelligent, Erza, and reads at a second grade level. Juvia, my aide, has been working with him on some more complicated reading material."

"I'm pleased he's fitting in, then." She smiled at him and he didn't realize he was smiling back like a stupidly smitten schoolboy until she cleared her throat and stepped back from his desk. "Well, I'll be going then. Please let me know about the volunteer work and I'll contribute as much as I can."

"Right. Of course."

"Goodbye, Mister Fernandes." She left him alone in his classroom still grinning and feeling ridiculously light headed. Later when he finally looked at the sticky-note he saw her last name differed from Rogue's. _Erza Scarlet_. He couldn't think of a lovelier name. There was no denying it now. He had it bad.


	4. Chapter 4

"I still say that kissing booth is a disgusting idea." Ultear walked beside him as they wound their way through the carnival grounds.

"I'm not sure which is less appealing to me: the smug guys in the booth or the swarms of eager young women lining up to kiss them." He glared at the high school seniors in their black and blue blazers absolutely basking in female attention. Blue Pegasus was the audition-only men's choir at the private school most of his students would eventually attend.

"Jealous? I heard _you_ were on the short list of people asked to sit at the booth."

Jellal stuffed his hands violently in his pockets. "Hardly. I refused."

"Is that why Gajeel is so upset with you? I heard he was on the list, too."

"I would honestly rather chew my own fingers off than occupy a kissing booth with Redfox. I voted against the whole idea. Obviously I was outnumbered."

Ultear laughed at his discomfort. "I don't know why the high school even needs a fundraiser booth. It's not as if they don't have a wealth of donations from parents and alumni."

"It's not all about the money. These things encourage community. It's good for Magnolia." He frowned at the uproarious giggles coming from the line of girls. "And Blue Pegasus, apparently."

"Regardless, I thought the Fairy Tail booth came out rather well."

"Why do you sound so surprised?"

"Because you're a noob, Jellal. I don't think anyone expected you to have such an efficient plan," Ultear said dryly, elbowing him in the ribs.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence. I have to confess, though, it was mostly Erza who did the work. I was so busy moving and pulling things out of storage and handling the board meetings that I just gave her free reign to do what she wanted."

"Erza, huh? Is she a parent? _Girlfriend?_ "

 _"No!"_ Jellal realized he'd sounded more defensive than intended. "She's not a girlfriend. Just the parent of one of my students." He didn't have to look over at her to know Ultear was smirking suspiciously.

"Well, her ideas were amazing and I don't doubt they'll bring in enough to fulfill the fundraising goal. Food always does well at carnivals. Who doesn't like cake sold by little kids?"

Jellal and Ultear approached the booth and found Erza in the back supervising the cutting and distributing of the donated cakes. She smiled at them both and Jellal's sweaty hands balled up into awkward fists in his pockets. Her face seemed to glow beautifully in the afternoon sun and, once again, he found himself unable to say anything other than the obvious.

"This looks great, Erza! You've got a line several people deep out there." She blushed slightly at his compliment and his eyes snagged on a stray wisp of her red hair. He wanted to reach out and tuck it behind her ear.

"Oh, you should really be thanking the bakery. All these cakes were donated and they'll enjoy the publicity, I'm sure. I didn't do too much."

"That's not true at all. You handled this whole booth and I can't thank you enough for taking it off my hands." Jellal considered biting his tongue off. He was gushing.

"It really wasn't any trouble. Maybe you could keep me in mind for future events? You have all my contact information." Erza was speaking directly at him and he felt completely removed from the crowds milling around them. As if they were in their own bubble and all he could see was her incredibly touchable hair and kissable smile.

"Of course. Since you've been such a success I have no doubt the school board will shoulder me with all kinds of things I'm grossly unqualified to handle."

"I can't imagine that you're grossly unqualified for anything, Mister Fernandes." Jellal couldn't decide if she was flirting or not and it didn't matter because he was flushed with her attention anyway.

"Mommy, we've run out of paper plates!" Rogue burst the bubble around them, and Erza blinked as if suddenly remembering they were in a public place. "Oh, hey there, Mister Fernandes. Isn't my mom the best? We never had anything like this in Crocus!"

She turned back to him and smiled again. "I'd better handle the plate situation. It was great to see you." Erza disappeared into the tiny booth and Jellal could feel Ultear laughing at him and tugging on his arm.

"You are _completely_ obvious!" Jellal scowled as she had a moment of laughter at his expense. "Do you realize how infatuated you are with that woman? It's all over your face."

"I'm not _infatuated_ with her."

"Maybe infatuated is the wrong word, but it's clear that you have a hardcore crush on her."

"Could you stop? It's bad enough as it is." Jellal couldn't remember a time when he was so embarrassed.

"She's into you, too."

"Ugh, _stop!_ "

"It's the most adorable romantic comedy, and it's playing out right in front of me!"

"No, this is not a romantic comedy. It's my life and it's also horribly unprofessional. I can't pursue a woman like that."

Ultear stopped in her tracks and planted her hands on her hips. "Why the hell not?"

"Are you kidding? She's the mother of one of my students! It's the very definition of a conflict of interest. I'd like to keep my job, thank you."

"Jellal, she'll only be the mother of your student until next June. It's a temporary setback. Until then you can… I don't know… feel things out?"

He pursed his lips. "That sounds wrong." Ultear burst out laughing again. "Why do I even talk to you about these things?"

"You're making this a bigger deal than it needs to be. I understand your professional reservations. I do. But if you don't start laying groundwork now, well, women like her don't stay single forever."

"You don't know anything about her, Ultear."

"And you do?"

"I know enough to understand why I can't just _feel things out_ as you so rakishly put it. And I won't compromise the progress I've made with her son just to get in Erza's pants."

"You're so noble, Jellal." Ultear sighed and they started walking again. "It's what makes you a great teacher, though."

Jellal stopped by the Fairy Tail booth one more time before leaving the fair grounds that evening. Erza struggled with a stack of empty cake boxes and he took them off her hands just before they toppled to the ground.

"Oh, thank you, I –" She cut off when she saw who'd taken the load. "Mister Fernandes, I didn't realize you were still here."

"Well, I didn't feel right about just leaving without saying again how much I appreciate all the time you put into today. It couldn't have been easy organizing all the kids and their parents."

Erza blushed and smiled at him behind her falling hair. "I'm glad I could help out. It wasn't easy to get Rogue into Fairy Tail once the school year started and I'm afraid I may have pulled a rank card to get it done. I don't mind giving my time in return."

"Rank, huh? Are you a celebrity then? Should I be calling you Miss Scarlet?" It wasn't Jellal's intention to fall into a flirtatious mode with her but it was too late to back out now.

"Just Erza is fine, but I think I'll be expecting a proper bow from now on. For propriety's sake." She winked at him and he couldn't help the laughter that bubbled up.

"I'll try and remember that for the next time I see you."

"Will there be a next time, Mister Fernandes?" He was beginning to suspect she enjoyed calling him that.

"I think that depends on you, Erza." Jellal took a step close to her and he opened his mouth to say something his mind was screaming at him _not_ to say when Rogue appeared by her side and clung dramatically.

" _Mom_ , I'm so tired I could _die!"_

Erza pried him from her body. "Well, I can't have you dying on me. Did you gather up all the trash like I asked?" Rogue nodded and tugged on her hand. "I think this is where I leave you, Mister Fernandes," she said with a twinge of regret.

"Of course." He couldn't do anything but continue to grin at her like a sap but he didn't feel so bad about it this time because she smiled at him in return.

Later that night he confessed to Milliana that Ultear was right. He absolutely had a problematic crush on Erza and had a ridiculously hard time keeping those feelings in check. She'd also been right about the time line. Rogue wouldn't be his student forever but a lot could change in eight months.


	5. Chapter 5

The first month Jellal spent in his new apartment was so incredibly busy he hadn't had time to appreciate it beyond the reliable utilities and overall improvement of his living experience. In the weeks following the conclusion of the Harvest Festival he'd decided to take up an old pastime he hadn't had the proper environment for since he graduated from college. Milliana mourned the loss of her favorite hobby, but was content to sprawl out in the patch of sunlight in his new kitchen and not be completely bitter over the laces in his running shoes.

There was a trail that wound in and out of the nearby neighborhoods and parks that Jellal used on weekend mornings. He couldn't manage the long distances he used to but that would come in time, he supposed. Endurance had to be built up and he was definitely not in the shape he used to be.

His favorite stretch of trail circled behind a row of townhomes. It was a shaded area and not usually as crowded as the other sections punctuated with larger playgrounds. The morning was oddly humid for autumn and he stretched out on a bench to catch his breath. He draped his arm over his eyes and contemplated how hard it would be to earn Milliana's forgiveness if he got a dog. Running alone wasn't as enjoyable as he wished. As he imagined his cat shredding everything in his apartment Jellal heard a soft laugh and felt something brush against his knee.

"Taking a nap, Mister Fernandes?" Jellal shot up into a sitting position and found Erza leaning forward against the back of the bench, her hair falling over her shoulder low enough to tickle.

"Erza! I… no, I wasn't napping. Running actually." _How_ did she always manage to catch him completely off guard?

"Running?" She quirked an eyebrow playfully. "I didn't know running was done this way. Is it a new development?"

His face felt stupidly warm. "Well, I _was_ running."

"I'm joking. I'm completely confident that you're not a squatter on this bench. The school _has_ to pay you more than that."

"You're very funny, Miss Scarlet." She moved around the bench and sat next to him. "Are you here alone?"

"I am. Rogue stayed at Sing's house last night and I thought I might take advantage of my solitude to have a run." Erza paused. "Rogue and I walk these trails often and I've never seen you out here before."

"I just moved to a building not too far away, so you wouldn't have. I'm pretty embarrassed you caught me like this, to be honest. I haven't been much of a runner since college."

"Well your secret is safe with me. I won't tell anyone I caught you napping on a park bench." She laughed again and Jellal noted the sound was one of his favorite things about her.

"I'm going to have to trust you on that. I assume you live nearby?"

"Yes, I rent one of the townhouses over there. I wanted Rogue to have a yard when we moved."

"My conditions for moving were to have working water service for more than three weeks at a time."

"So you drive a hard bargain, then?"

He laughed and touched her shoulder without thinking. "Well, you tell me! Was I a mercilessly demanding supervisor during the festival preparations?"

Erza blushed and looked down at her shoes. "No, you were very open minded and easy to work with. Listen, I don't wa –" Her phone chirped and she tugged it free of her arm band. "I'm sorry; I really have to take this." She glanced up at him apologetically. "It's Sting's mother. I'll probably need to go. It was nice to see you outside of… well, everything. Maybe we'll run into one another again?"

Jellal's lips curved into the ridiculous grin that was becoming part and parcel of his encounters with her. "I'd like that." She turned and answered her phone as she walked away. Jellal sprinted home and took a much needed cold shower. He had to stop flirting with her so shamelessly. He _had_ to.

One of the more stressful elements of the school year was field trips. They were a good idea in theory but in practice things could – and did – spiral out of control very easily. The Magnolia Zoo entertained two kindergarten classes in one day and on top of this group of thirty students there was the general public to contend with. Tours through the various sections of the zoo weren't nearly as much of a hectic experience as breaks for meals and restrooms. Jellal was on edge the entire time. For most of the day he tried to write it off as the usual anxiety that accompanied leaving the school grounds with precious – _and precocious_ – cargo. Disaster didn't strike until the adults were corralling the children towards the waiting transportation.

Jellal's class was grouped near a large tree under the supervision of Juvia while he ran a couple of students to the restroom before they had to climb into the vans for the ride back to the school. As he waited outside the bathroom doors he sighed exhaustedly and thought himself lucky to be on personal vehicle duty this time. There was always one teacher to bring their own car just in case of an emergency and he wouldn't be subjected to the din of excited chatter for the thirty minute return trip. Halfway back to his waiting students he heard a collective gasp and a truncated shriek from the area surrounding the tree.

 _"Mister Fernandes! Miss Lockser!"_ Several students shouted frantically as he weaved his way to the center of the ruckus. Sting was climbing off the body of Rogue who was curled around his arm, clutching it to his chest.

"I swear it was an accident, Mister Fernandes!" Sting was sobbing and helicoptering around his friend in a state of panic. "The branch wasn't even that high and I didn't think he'd trip like that!"

Jellal knelt down and gently touched Rogue's shoulder. The boy gazed up at him with tear-filled eyes. "I'm sorry, Mister Fernandes," he cried softly. "I think I hurt my arm." Rogue winced when Jellal helped him to stand. "Am I in trouble? _Are you going to tell my mom?_ "

"You're not in trouble right now, okay? Can I see your arm?" Jellal tried to pry his hand off the injured arm and could see the boy's wrist was already turning a violent shade of blue. "I think we should get you to a hospital, okay, Rogue?" At the suggestion Rogue burst into full on tears and Sting did his best to put his arm around the other boy's shoulders. The guilt was heavy in his expression.

"Oh my god, what happened?" Juvia rejoined the group and gasped at the sight of Rogue's wrist and tears. "I only turned my back for a moment to throw away some trash!"

"It's okay, Juvia, let's not worry about that right now. Go ahead and get in the van with the rest of the class and then call the principal and notify the other teachers. I'm going to take Rogue to the emergency room. I'm the one who signed the release forms."

"Would you like me to contact his mother, as well?"

 _Erza_. His heart sank. "No, I'll call his mother myself." He stood and led Rogue by the shoulder away from the crowd. "Do you think you'll be okay for about ten minutes? I'll help you with the seatbelt."

"Yeah, I think so." Rogue sniffled and followed Jellal to his car. "Mister Fernandes?"

"What is it?" he asked softly as he did his best to work the seatbelt under Rogue's injured arm.

"Am I in trouble? Will I get kicked out of Fairy Tail?"

"Well," Jellal looked the boy in the eye. "I think you know that climbing the tree was the wrong thing to do. And I think Sting feels pretty bad, too." He sighed and strapped himself into the driver's seat. "I don't think you're in too much trouble. Not from me, anyway. And I don't think you'll get kicked out of school, kiddo."

"Do you think my mom'll be really mad at me?" Rogue whispered.

"I think she's going to be upset, but I also think she'll be happy that you're safe." Rogue didn't say anything else on the way to the hospital.

The emergency room wasn't too crowded and Jellal was grateful. A nurse took Rogue for an x-ray and Jellal inhaled a deep breath before calling Erza. He could tell she was doing her best to remain calm, but the undertones of terror were obvious to him. She explained she was in the middle of a presentation and couldn't leave for another hour. He let her speak briefly with the receptionist at the desk to provide necessary insurance information and Rogue reappeared with the nurse looking considerably better. The nurse explained to Erza over the phone that Rogue had a fracture in his wrist that would require a simple reduction and a cast, but no surgery. When he finally got his phone back the relief in Erza's voice was obvious.

"Jellal," she whispered. His heart stuttered. She'd never called him by his first name before. "Thank you. I'll be there as soon as I can."

To his credit, Rogue was a champ during the resetting of his bones and the cast application. He held Jellal's hand tightly and put on a very brave face. For his efforts the doctor gave him a handful of lollipops and a roll of stickers. By the time Erza flew through the emergency room doors, leaving a leering cab driver behind her, Rogue was yawning widely.

"Look mom!" he proclaimed tiredly. "I got a bag of stuff and a cast! They let me pick a color so I got red just like your hair." Erza inspected his cast and arm before drawing her son into a tight embrace and stealthily wiping her tears on his shirt. "I'm okay, mom. I'm fine." Rogue whispered.

She pulled back and smiled as best she could. "I know you are, but you scared me _half to death_. You and Sting need to stay out of trees. Probably forever, okay?"

"Can we go home now?" Rogue yawned again. "I've had a long day, mom."

Finally, Erza laughed and stood. She turned to Jellal and reached out to squeeze his forearm. "Thank you so much. I can't even say –"

"You don't have to. I feel completely responsible. I'm sure the school won't like me saying that, but I do."

"Please don't apologize. You can't possibly be held responsible for something like this. I'm thankful you were able to handle everything." Erza gathered her shoulder bag and dug around inside for her phone and growled frustratedly when she couldn't get her hands on it right away. "I need to call another cab and of course I can't find my phone and –" her voice became unstable and Jellal hated seeing her so unhinged.

"Please don't do that. I can drive you both home myself."

Erza looked up at him. "You'd do that? I mean, you don't have to –"

"I know I don't have to, but I will. It's a waste to sit here waiting for a cab when we live a handful of minutes apart." She smiled gratefully and followed him from the emergency room.

The ride to her house was quiet and he guessed it was because she didn't want to allow her emotions to leak out all over a conversation. Erza's reaction to losing her phone, even inside the confines of her bag, said enough. By the time she directed him into her small driveway, Rogue was fast asleep in the back seat. Jellal offered to carry him inside and Erza didn't hesitate to let him. Even the small amount of pain medication they'd given him during the reduction was enough to knock him out apparently.

Jellal tried not to take notice of too many things inside Erza's house. It felt a bit like an intrusion and not at all the kind of circumstances under which he'd have liked to be invited inside. He carried Rogue up a flight of stairs into a room decorated with dragons. Erza pulled off her son's shoes and tucked the sheets around him as Jellal waited in the hall.

When Erza shut Rogue's bedroom door behind her, she surprised him by wrapping her arms around his middle. Her shoulders trembled and he could feel his t-shirt dampening with her tears. Jellal didn't think twice about returning her embrace. Erza held to him tightly and he didn't say a word as she had the cry he suspected she'd been hiding since that afternoon. Finally, she sniffled and pulled away. Strands of red hair stuck to her face and he couldn't stop himself from gently prying them from her wet cheeks.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to throw myself at you like that."

"Don't apologize, Erza. I can't imagine what all this has been like for you."

" _Thank you_ for staying with him. You're a wonderful teacher, and an amazing man." The silence in the hallway was laden with unresolved tension. Erza stared up at him as if searching his features for something. _An invitation?_ He wasn't sure, but all of the reasons why he shouldn't _be here_ , especially in _this position,_ quieted to a nonsensical buzz. She leaned into him slightly and he didn't miss that her gaze flickered between his eyes and mouth.

 _Good fucking god_ , he wanted to kiss her. She was so close and so beautiful and she was closing the gap all on her own. His heart raced in his chest and he could feel Erza's breath on his face. She tilted her head and their lips brushed just enough to create a cling of skin and sweat and tears before Jellal – inexplicably and _stupidly_ – stepped back.

"Erza," he breathed. "This –"

Her eyes flew open wide and she covered her mouth with her hand. "I'm so sorry. I – I didn't even – I wasn't thinking. Forgive me."

"No that's not – I mean I'm –"

"You're Rogue's teacher. I can't kiss you or – or – I'm so sorry." She ran her hand through her hair and exhaled heavily.

"You were hardly alone in what just happened. I'm just as much at fault. _This_ … can't happen right now."

"No," she agreed. "Not right now."

"I should go." Jellal said softly.

"Right. I'm sure you're exhausted." Erza escorted him to the front door, and grasped his arm again. "I meant what I said before. You _are_ amazing."

"Goodnight, Erza," he whispered before leaving her on the doorstep.

He smiled and walked back to his car with his lip still tingling. The way she'd felt pressed against him and even the tiniest whisper of a kiss they'd shared left him in a state of anxious euphoria. Jellal didn't care if he had to wait another semester and a half.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Author's Note: I've taken a few creative liberties in this chapter regarding the origins of Jellal's tattoo, his family, and some of Earthland's culture.**_

* * *

As the weather grew colder Jellal found himself waiting until evening to go running instead of dragging himself out of bed in the morning. He'd only seen Erza and Rogue out and about twice since he'd nearly kissed her in the hallway and believed it was a good thing. If he couldn't control himself when given one opportunity, he shouldn't be exposed to more.

The winter holiday season was possibly his least favorite of the year. Jellal didn't have a healthy relationship with his family and hadn't been home since the completion of his second degree program. Earning a formal education in Fiore instead of taking his father's place at the head of their clan hadn't been a widely popular idea. He didn't regret his choices but there was still an emptiness that accompanied a season where family bonds were part of the celebration.

At the end of the last week before winter break his students produced holiday themed artwork to decorate the hallways in preparation for a school-wide party. The sheer amount of glitter and glue and construction paper used was astounding and Jellal guessed it would take more than one sweeps with a vacuum to remove all the tiny bits of sparkling foil from the carpets. In the end, though, the result was something the children could be proud of and show off to their parents.

Two days before the actual holiday an unexpected snow storm covered Magnolia in a blanket of white. Being on the southern edge of Fiore, the city wasn't prepared for the amount of precipitation and many citizens were stuck in their homes. Train travel became impossible and the news stations blared updates hourly. He'd tried to coax Milliana out onto the snow covered balcony but she refused to leave the comfort of her fleece pillow. In fact, she rotated her body and turned her back to him entirely.

"You're such a princess, Milli-girl. I think you'd like the snow." Milliana yawned and tucked herself into the usual ball. Jellal supposed he should go shopping just to be sure his cat, at least, wouldn't run out of food when all the stores were closed for two days. "I'll be back in a little bit. Try not to do _too_ much while I'm gone." She didn't even respond and Jellal rolled his eyes. He pulled on his boots and decided to walk instead of driving to the store. It seemed safer. Some people did _not_ know how to handle winter driving and he wanted to live to see the new year.

The aisles were crowded and Jellal realized he should've gone out much earlier in the day. He stood in the dry cereal section pondering how much he preferred freeze dried mini-marshmallows to toasted nut clusters when another cart crashed right into his. He spun around to see a familiar little boy grinning up at him.

"Hey, Mister Fernandes! I saw you and just wanted to say hi!"

"Hey there, Rogue, how are you enjoying your holiday? Do you like all the snow?"

Rogue shrugged. "We had snow in Crocus. This is nothin'."

"I see," Jellal chuckled. "Other than all this boring snow, how's your break been?"

"It's fine, I guess. It's great to have my mom home, though. She used to work a lot."

"Oh yeah? I'm sure she likes to be home with you, too." Jellal glanced around for Erza. He assumed she was somewhere in the store – it was highly doubtful the boy was shopping alone.

"Did you find a cereal you want… oh!" She rounded the corner of the aisle and glanced up from her grocery list, surprised to find him there. "Mister Fernandes!"

"I thought it might be a good idea to do some shopping today before everything closed down." He glanced around at the crowd. "Looks like I wasn't alone in that idea."

"No, you definitely weren't." She smiled shyly and ran her fingers through Rogue's hair. "Do you stay in town for the holiday?"

"Uh…" He hesitated. His family wasn't something he talked about very often. Not even with Ultear. "Yeah. I don't really travel a whole lot."

"So you'll be alone?" Her eyebrows furrowed and he diverted his eyes.

"It's not a big deal, really."

 _"Mom!"_ Rogue interrupted. "Mister Fernandes should come to our house for dinner!" He hopped around anxiously grabbing his mother's hand.

"Well… Rogue, that's –" She glanced up at him and pursed her lips. "You'll need to make sure Mister Fernandes even wants to come over. It has to be his choice."

Rogue snatched Jellal's free hand. " _Please_ , Mister Fernandes? No one should be alone on a holiday!"

Jellal hesitated for an awkward moment. He didn't know what to say. Did Erza want him there? Did she allow her son to extend the invitation out of pity? Would things be strange and forced between them? He looked over at Erza and she gave him a small smile and nodded slightly.

"Well, okay. If it's not a bother."

"It isn't," Erza said softly. She was grinning at him and his eyes strayed to her lips. Rogue clapped once and grabbed the shopping cart handle.

" _Awesome!_ You'll come over and we'll have dinner and it'll be great!" He sped down the aisle leaving his mother and Jellal behind.

"Wow. What do you feed that kid when he's not in school?"

Erza laughed. "He's had entirely too many marshmallows today. I told him he could have a handful and the bag was empty on the floor of his room a couple hours later." She stepped closer to him and touched his arm. "Thank you for agreeing to come. Rogue really likes you."

Jellal forgot they were in a crowded grocery store. He forgot everything around them and reached up to snatch a strand of her hair clinging to the shoulder of her sweater. As he twirled it around his finger he asked, "Is he the only one?"

"No, he isn't." She bit her lip and he desperately wanted to pull it from her teeth and kiss her while pressing her body against the shelves packed with cereal boxes. "I'll email you our house number and we'll see you on Thursday."

He stared after her as she left to find her son and wondered what the hell came over him every time he got within a two foot vicinity of her. Fantasizing about a woman in a cereal aisle was absolutely ridiculous. Jellal shook his head and decided to go with the toasted nut clusters.

Thursday evening Jellal left Milliana with a warning that he might not be back until late. She stretched across his bed and dug her claws into his socks in response. The snow lingered but most of it had melted to a thick slush. Erza's house wasn't far from his apartment but the cold air made him regret walking. By the time he rang the doorbell his fingers had lost most of their feeling and he couldn't help the sigh that escaped when a blast of warm air from inside curled around him.

"Did you walk here?" Erza asked incredulously.

"I did. Upon reflection, I can see it was probably a bad choice." He grinned at her and she pulled him inside. His wet coat and boots stayed in the tiled entryway and he followed Erza through her house to the kitchen, which smelled divinely of food.

"Mister Fernandes! You came!" Rogue hopped down from a chair and launched himself at Jellal. "Do you want to see my room, Mister Fernandes? Do you like dragons?"

"Uh, sure." Erza winked at him from by the stove. "Lead the way!" he said even though he remembered the exact way to Rogue's bedroom door. He also recalled the way he'd nearly kissed the boy's mother… and hadn't been able to forget the moment since.

Rogue's bedroom was overflowing with dragon paraphernalia. His walls were plastered with posters and framed dragon art, and every available surface was covered with books about dragons and figurines.

"Wow, Rogue, I'm impressed!"

"Come sit down and I'll show you my new book!" Rogue climbed onto his bed and pulled a book the size of his torso from under the pillows. He took Jellal on a page-by-full-color-page journey through the story of a dragon named Shadow and his struggle to overcome darkness. The boy was so into the story he didn't notice his mother watching from the doorway.

"Are you boys ready to eat?" Erza asked smiling teasingly.

"We'll finish the story later, Mister Fernandes," Roge said seriously. "You won't believe how it ends." He dashed from the room and Erza called after him to wash his hands before touching anything on the table.

"He _adores_ you. He's been going on all day about dinner."

"I hope I'm not a boring disappointment. I know next to nothing about dragons," he chuckled. Erza still stood in the doorway and when he approached her she lightly touched the buttons on his shirt.

"Showing up at all is a big deal for him. I hope –" She paused and sucked in a breath. "I hope it's not too much? At once, I mean. I know that you and I… we're not exactly …"

"It's not too much." He took her hand. "I'm aware of what's at stake here, Erza, and I'm not just trying to make nice with your son so I can get you in bed. I don't have an agenda for being here other than wanting to spend time with you."

"I'm glad you said so because I was a little afraid you'd think that was that _I_ wanted by inviting you here after what happened the last time."

"For the record that wasn't what I thought at all." Jellal ran his thumb over her fingers and Erza's cheeks turned the pink color he loved so much.

"We should get back downstairs before there's no food left," she whispered and tugged on his hand.

Dinner was a lively – and delicious – affair. Erza tried to brush off his raving but she'd obviously put in a whole afternoon of effort. By the time Rogue cleaned his dessert plate his eyes were drooping. When his mother tried to escort him off to bed he ran back into the kitchen and threw his arms around Jellal.

"Thanks for coming, Mister Fernandes. Now you have to come back all the time, okay?"

"We'll see what your mom says about that."

Rogue smiled tiredly up at him. "I think she'll be okay with it." He waved one last time before following Erza down the hall and up the stairs to his room.

While Erza was putting Rogue to bed Jellal thought to make himself useful and gathered the dirty dishes from the table. By the time she rejoined him he'd finished washing them and was watching a new blanket of snow fall from the sky. His walk home would be a slog.

"I didn't think it snowed like this in Magnolia," Erza said quietly.

"It usually doesn't. I'm surprised it stuck to the ground for so long, to be honest." He felt her hand slide into his and pull him from the kitchen window.

"Come sit with me for a little bit. I made a fire earlier." Erza pulled him into her living room and directed him to the couch. He didn't expect her to sit so close to him or to shoulder her way under his arm but he wasn't about to protest. "Is this okay?" she asked. "Can we do this?"

"I think it's okay." Jellal smiled and pressed his cheek to the top of her head. There was a long stretch of silence before she spoke.

"Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Of course you can. I feel like there's been some disproportionate information sharing. Ask away."

"The tattoo on your face. It's… unique." Jellal stiffened. "I don't mean to upset you if it's a bad subject."

"No, it's fine. The principal at Fairy Tail asked me if it was gang related in my interview and when I said no, he never brought it up again."

 _"Gang related?"_ She snickered and scooted further into his side. "Was it put on you when you were a child? That's typical of the older and nobler families in Alvarez, but I didn't think it was done anymore. Unless you're older than you look?" Erza glanced up at him and he couldn't help but smile a little.

"No, I'm not _that_ old. And you're right. It's not really done anymore. My uncle was _furious_ with my father when he saw it for the first time." He finally relaxed into the cushions and sighed. "How on earth did you know any of that?"

"I'm an anthropologist. I never mentioned what I do for a living, but that's it. I study cultural history and do consulting research for the Dreyer Institute."

"Ah, I see. Were you transferred or…"

"No, I asked to leave Crocus. The position here is a lot less involved and I'm given more freedom to pursue my own interests. Plus, I'm home more. I think Rogue needs me here." She pulled a piece of fuzz from his sweater. "Your marking stood out to me right away. The design above your eye indicates a high level of importance. Not just in the old monarchy but within your family, as well."

Jellal stared into the fire and absently ran his fingers through a section of Erza's hair. "My dad was… traditional. I wasn't born until he was nearly sixty and my mother was his third wife."

"So he was around before the democratic revolution?"

"He was, yes. He didn't approve of the new government and was very vocal about it. Having a son was important to him but all he got were daughters from wives one and two."

"Do you mind me asking his rank?"

"He was a _Marquis_ briefly. My grandfather held the position much longer and then the coup happened. I think he expected a lot from me but I did nothing but disappoint him. The last thing he said to me before he died was that he hoped all my _foreign education_ made me important to _someone._ "

"Someone meaning…?"

"Anyone other than him. The tattoo was an attempt to drill it into my head at a young age that I was a Fernandes first and anything else a distant second."

"You left anyway?"

"Yep. My uncle helped me pay for college. I haven't been back to Alvarez in ages. If my father had gotten his way I'd still be there running the family and probably raising a whole sports team worth of kids."

"Wow."

"Yeah. It's not that I don't want a family… it's just…"

"Not like that." Jellal looked down at her and found her expression sympathetic and completely without judgement.

"No. Not like that."

"I'm sorry," Erza said quietly. She wrapped her arms around his middle and they sat in silence watching the flames dance around the logs.

As much as he'd have liked to stay next to her all night he needed to check on Milliana. She hadn't ever been left alone over night before and he worried she might become too anxious. Erza walked him to the door and held onto his hand tightly.

"I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable with all my questions about your family."

"Not at all. I don't have many opportunities to talk about it and… it was nice." Jellal stared down at their hands and felt a surge of affection for her. "Thank you for inviting me. I'd hoped that we could move forward and not be awkward."

"I like you, Jellal. I don't want things between us to be awkward, either." She smiled and squeezed his hand before letting go.

"I'll see you around, Erza."

His walk home wasn't quite as bad as he expected. Yes, the snow was cold but memories of Erza and the time they spent talking by the fire were enough to keep him warm until he could get beneath his blankets.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Author's Note: Cheesy poetry credits go to me. I don't owe Hallmark a damn thing.**_

* * *

Jellal scooped up handfuls of red and pink construction paper scraps and stuffed them into a trash bag. There were two weeks during his school year that never failed to riddle the carpet in his classroom with glitter. Just before winter break, and the time preceding Valentine's Day. It wasn't just the carpet, either. He'd be spending the latter half of his afternoon scraping glue and bits of tiny punch-outs off the desktops.

Strings of cards clipped with clothes pins dried in front of the large windows. They were covered with lopsided paper hearts and scrawled over with the names of loved ones. He thought maybe the same end could be achieved with only crayons, but that wasn't nearly half as fun as sparkles and dots. He sighed and tied off the last bag of craft garbage and tossed it into a growing pile.

"Mister Fernandes?" Jellal turned to see Rogue standing in the doorway clutching his lunch box.

"Shouldn't you be in the front hall looking for your mom, Rogue? You don't want to keep her waiting for too long."

"Yeah, but I wanted to ask you something. Can I? Just real quick?"

"Of course. What's on your mind?" Jellal sat on the edge of his desk.

"Well…" Rogue toed the edge of a carpet decorated with brightly designed letters of the alphabet. He suddenly sighed and looked at Jellal with a determined set to his jaw. "Are you gonna give my mom a present for Valentine's Day?"

Jellal stared wide-eyed at Rogue. He and Erza weren't technically dating but the subtext that they _would_ hung heavily in the air whenever they were in one another's company. He didn't ever consider that Rogue would pick up on that. But he probably should have.

"I, uh…"

"You _gotta,_ Mister Fernandes!"

"I gotta, huh?" He laughed and leaned slid off the desktop. "And why's that?"

Rogue blinked at him like he was missing a shamefully obvious point. "Because that's what Valentine's Day is for, right? To make sure people know you love 'em?" The boy gestured around them exasperatedly. "You have all this stuff here. You could make her a pretty card."

"Listen, Rogue –"

 _"Rogue!"_ Juvia popped her head into the classroom. "I've been looking everywhere for you! Your mom is here."

"You think about it, Mister Fernandes." Rogue followed Juvia from the room and left Jellal staring after him feeling dumfounded.

Ultear stirred her drink thoughtfully with barely concealed humor. "So you want to know what to get a woman you're _not_ dating for Valentine's Day?"

"Do you have actual thoughts or are you just going to make fun of me?" Jellal slumped in the booth and picked at his food.

"I have plenty of thoughts, but none of them are appropriate for someone in your position."

"You could've told me _that_ on the phone."

She laughed and pushed the glass aside. "There's not a whole lot you can do here, Jellal. It's not as if she doesn't know you like her, and you refuse to make a move until the school year is over. So anything overtly romantic or sex related is off limits." Jellal sighed heavily. "Why are you even considering this?"

"Well –" He felt his face turn red. "Rogue asked me if I was getting her something and he made it sound like if I didn't I'd be a jerk."

"So you're taking _non_ -dating advice from six year olds now?"

"No! I mean… I don't know. The way he _looked_ at me, Ultear, it made me feel like I was missing something obvious."

"Well, you _are_. It's obvious to _him_ that you like his mom the way he perceives boys to like girls. All these kids are making love-themed cards for their families and they watch older kids dating and exchanging gifts. Why wouldn't he feel safe in assuming you'd exhibit the same behavior towards his mother? He doesn't understand concepts like _conflict of interest_."

"I don't know how Erza will feel about any of this. What if she thinks it's overstepping?"

"Just get her a card or something. I don't think that's too much."

"Just a card?"

Ultear pulled a face. "Honestly, Jellal."

He ended up staring at the card display for nearly half an hour before an employee asked him if he needed help. All of the examples she showed him had inscriptions that were mawkishly amorous and completely unacceptable. Jellal ended up purchasing a blank card and decided to attempt his own message. He figured if he was going to participate at all, he may as well jump in head first.

His pen tapped rapidly against the pad of paper in his lap. In college he'd dabbled in poetry but hadn't ever had the knack for it. It was hard to rhyme words eloquently without everything reading like a children's book about nonsensical creatures doing ridiculous things. Jellal's concentration was broken by Milliana crawling into his lap and curling up over the notepad. She stared at him through half-closed eyes and swished her tail.

"I know, I know. Ultear already told me. I'm over thinking and over complicating." Milliana said nothing. "Do you think I'm making too big of a deal about this? Should I just send flowers with no note?" His cat grumbled and adjusted her body in assumed distaste for that idea.

It wasn't until Jellal was brushing his teeth before bed that an idea came to him. He spit out the toothpaste and hastily washed his face before rushing back to the couch and scribbling out several lines of poetry. He'd need to sleep on it before making the permanent commitment of writing in the card, but he didn't think his work was half bad.

The real challenge would be getting Erza the card without showing up at her door unexpectedly or chasing her down in front of the school. In the end he sprung for a bicycle messenger to take it from the school to her house during his lunch break. He didn't realize until after class had started again that he never signed the card after inscribing the message.

That evening he sprawled out in the grassy area to the side of the foot trail thinking of all the reasons he was possibly the stupidest man alive. After all his agonizing over the poem he didn't even sign the damn card. Jellal flung his arms over his eyes and groaned loudly.

"Have you injured yourself? Should I call an ambulance?" Jellal peeked through his arms and saw Erza had found him in the grass. _Somehow_ she'd done that thing where she caught him at the most unguarded moment.

"You're stealthy."

"Am I?" She laughed and ducked under the shoulder strap of her bag before joining him on the grass. "Rogue is at the playground but I saw you and thought I'd say hi. Are you busy contemplating the universe? Should I go?"

"No, I'm glad you're here." He sat up and faced her. "How was your day?" Jellal wanted to ask about the card but he already felt so foolish about it that he couldn't bring himself to mention it directly.

"Well," Erza smirked and pulled her bag into her lap. "Since you asked… I got a delivery today from a messenger service. The card was unsigned but it had the most curious poetry inside." Jellal watched in horror as she pulled the card – _his card_ – from the envelope and opened it. "Shall I read it to you?"

"Uh, I don't –" Erza cleared her throat and began to read.

" _I wanted to tell you about the sky_

 _The deepness of it's blue as the birds fly by_

 _I wanted to speak to you of the leaves_

 _Their countless colors as they fall from the trees_

 _I wanted to proclaim the beauty of song_

 _And how it leaves a happiness prolonged_

 _Though instead all I can see is your smile_

 _And how it makes the wait worth every mile_

 _The red of your hair fills all of my musings_

 _And promise of summer barely suffusing_

 _A touch of your hand resonates on my skin_

 _And I can barely hold my anticipation within"_

By the time she finished Jellal's embarrassment kept his mouth firmly shut. He'd meant every word as he'd written them but having it read out loud was too much. Erza closed the card and returned it to the envelope.

"Now who on earth do you suppose composed such lovely words just for me?" Jellal sighed dramatically and fell backwards onto the soft grass.

"I meant to sign the card," he groaned. "But I forgot." Erza laughed and he felt her leaning over him.

"Thank you for the card, Jellal. It was very sweet and I had no idea you were a poet." She quickly pressed her lips to his cheek and pulled back. His smile couldn't be contained.

"I'm really not. No matter how you look at it, romantic poetry always comes off as ridiculous cheese. I'm glad you liked it, though."

"No one's ever written me a poem before. I _loved_ it." He watched her tuck a strand of hair behind an ear and return the bag to her shoulder. "Before I go I wanted to let you know that I'm available to help out with field day at the end of the year. I hear it's a big thing."

Jellal sat back up and grunted in irritation. "It's a _huge_ thing. School wide, tons of parents, administrators everywhere… I'd love to have help. Kindergarten field day is a lot like herding wild cats."

"It can't be that bad," she laughed.

"You'll see." Jellal stood and offered a hand to help her up.

"Thanks again for the card, Jellal." She squeezed his hand affectionately before leaving him in the grass.


	8. Chapter 8

It didn't take long for the ice in the coolers to start turning into mush. Summer in Magnolia was suffocating and even with insulated walls the water bottles were swimming in melted ice. Jellal wiped his forehead on his sleeve and watched Juvia pin numbers to the backs of his students. Every one of the children bubbled over with excited energy; Sting in particular was practically vibrating. Thankfully his mother volunteered for the field day event and her presence seemed to keep him under control – tenuous as it was.

Lucy, as he had guessed, was endlessly patient with her son and every other child in her group. She never flinched and had a way of wordlessly conveying disapproval that impressed him. It was no wonder how she was able to keep the men of her household in line, though, he suspected that behind closed doors Lucy dealt with Natsu in a very different tone than the one she reserved for the children.

Jellal thought it a good thing that he wasn't spending a whole lot of time in Erza's company. Through no fault of her own she tended to command all his attention simply by existing and field day required a _lot_ of supervision. Twice he'd caught sight of her and the way her skin glistened with sweat in the heat of the day made him feel even more lightheaded than what was natural on an afternoon so hot.

After Valentine's Day he decided to pull all the way back from her. He needed the space to clear his head and focus on preparing his students for grade transition. Rogue's social skills were improving and Jellal managed to get him a seat to test out of first grade reading and skip to third grade. It would be a challenge for the boy but exposure to older kids and more difficult reading material would be good for him. Wendy's parents had requested no less than _four_ parent-teacher meetings to discuss her debilitating shyness and anxiety, and he had two interviews for private in-home tutoring services for older students during the summer break. Jellal couldn't handle all of that on top of an impossible crush on a parent he couldn't even contemplate dating for months.

For her part, Erza didn't complicate the matter. She smiled and waved at him when they had public encounters but the chemistry between them seemed to slow to a simmer rather than the rolling boil that peaked after Rogue broke his arm. Jellal tried not to be disappointed because the distance had been his choice. He'd deal with whatever he felt once school was out and he could realistically entertain the idea of a relationship with her. The semester didn't end for another week and he still didn't know how things would play out.

At the end of the exhausting afternoon, Jellal sat in the shade and watched the now warm water flow out of the cooler spouts. His feet hurt, his sweat soaked t-shirt clung to his back uncomfortably and all he could think about was a shower and the cold beer in his refrigerator at home.

"You look like you got mobbed by a pack of unruly children," a feminine voice chuckled above him. When he looked up Erza handed him a chilled bottle of water. "It's the last one and I'm on my way home."

"Thanks, Erza. You're a lifesaver." He only drank half of it. The rest he splashed over his face and then tossed the empty bottle into a garbage bag. "So." He grinned up at her. "Still don't think it's as bad as herding wild cats?"

"I retract my disbelief. It's a _lot_ like herding wild cats."

"Well, I warned you."

"You did. So what are your plans for summer? A long vacation away from all this?"

"Nah, I've got some private tutoring I do and I honestly have no interest in planning a vacation. Most of my summer will be spent doing as little as possible."

"Completely understandable," she laughed.

"What about you guys? Big plans?"

"Rogue begged me to sign him up for a week-long scout camp with Sting, and I'm considering his time away as my personal vacation."

"Wow, that's not something I expected from Rogue."

Erza shook her head. "Honestly, I didn't see it coming either. Lucy said Sting did it last year and apparently Natsu will be there, as well. So I decided not to fight him on it." She watched him without comment as he emptied the last of the coolers and stood to drag them back inside the building.

"I'd better get these checked-in so I can get home and cool off," Jellal said awkwardly.

"Of course," Erza took a step back and slid her sunglasses from the top of her head over her eyes. "I'll see you around."

The clumsy way they parted was exactly the kind of ungainly interaction he'd hoped they'd never fall into. Jellal trudged back inside the building and wondered if it could be defeated or if their moment had come and gone without a chance of survival.

Milliana pawed at his chest and poked her nose at the cold beer bottle he'd perched on his forehead. She opened her mouth in a lazy yowl when he didn't respond.

"Aw, come on, Milli-girl. I've had a long day," Jellal mumbled. She continued to headbutt his chin and wrist until he capitulated. "Alright, alright." He half-heartedly stroked her head and back until she was satisfied enough to hop off his chest and curl into his side.

Jellal sat up and finished the bottle before returning it to the cardboard carrying case. He didn't want to fixate on the aggravating awkwardness that dominated his conversation with Erza earlier. But he did anyway.

"Did I miss my shot, Milliana?" His cat didn't respond at all and somehow it made him feel worse about the situation.

The end of the school year came and went with the normal amount of fanfare. After all his students and even Juvia had gone, Ultear found him reclining in his desk chair staring out of the windows. She unceremoniously fell into one of the large foam stuffed bag-chairs and toed off her heels.

"Have you figured out the meaning of life yet, Jellal? You're awfully quiet over there."

"I'm just thinking."

"About?"

"This has been a weird year for me and I'm trying to reconcile it all."

"Erza, you mean?"

"Not just that. Everything."

"You can't possibly still be adjusting to your move." Jellal swiveled around in his chair and stared at Ultear. "You're acting even more bizarre than usual, Jellal. Should I be worried?" He stood and stretched before falling into a stuffed chair beside her.

"Nah, I'm fine." She eyed him suspiciously.

"You're not having a pre-midlife-crisis are you? Don't go acting rashly like quitting your job or anything. The waiting list to teach here is a mile long." Jellal finally laughed.

"Nothing like that. Sometimes I just question some of my choices."

Ultear sighed loudly. "Stop being vague."

"I'm sorry. I've been in a weird mood lately. Last night I stared at my ceiling for an hour wondering if Sorano wouldn't have left if I hadn't insisted on keeping Milliana."

"This is about your cat?" Ultear asked incredulously. "Good grief, Jellal, you _are_ having a crisis. That was years ago!"

"I just wonder how things would be had I made different choices."

"Jellal…" Ultear paused and drew formless circles in the canvas of the chair with her fingertip. "I know you don't talk about your family much but –"

"I promise this isn't about them. I'm not going to hop on a boat to Alvarez and try and… do whatever." He sighed. "I thought I needed space from something and once I got it I didn't expect to miss it so much." Ultear gave him time to gather his thoughts. "And the funny thing is… I never really had it to begin with."

"I had a feeling this had to do with Erza. Listen, you need to get a grip. She hasn't found someone else has she?"

"No," he mumbled.

"She hasn't told you anything is off the table either, right?" He shook his head and Ultear went on. "Then what's the problem? The year is over and her kid won't be in your class anymore."

"She's been distancing herself lately and –"

"You just said _you_ were the one who wanted space and took it."

"I guess."

"Do you even hear yourself? I bet your cat makes more sense than you right now." Ultear pushed herself from the chair, straightened her skirt, and grabbed her shoes. "Go home, Jellal. Get some rest and go find Erza. You're muddying the waters with all this unnecessary moping."

She left him in his classroom and Jellal stayed to watch the sunset before finally heading out.

Jellal kept himself at home for a week. He didn't leave his apartment unnecessarily and spent the hours watching mindless television that he couldn't recall the moment he turned it off. On the morning of the second week he woke at dawn and decided to take Ultear's advice.

In an attempt to sweat out his anxious mindset Jellal went for a long run. On his way back he rounded the last corner before the stretch of trail that passed Erza's street and as he glanced at the row of houses barely visible from behind the trees he collided – _hard_ \- with another runner. He thought maybe it was a woman but couldn't tell because his face hit the concrete and it took him a moment to recover. He heard a loud gasp and felt someone roll him onto his back.

"Oh, my god! _Jellal!_ Are you okay?" Erza's fingers brushed over his face and she gasped again when she found the place on his forehead that hurt the most. "You're bleeding!"

Jellal finally opened his eyes and stared up at her. Concern was etched all over her features. "What happened?"

"It's my fault. I followed a stray cat into the trees and stepped back out just in time to trip you." Erza helped him into a sitting position. He touched his forehead and winced painfully. " _I'm so sorry_. I'd just nearly cracked my own skull open on a rock because I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and I'm afraid I made you do the same thing."

"I ran into you?"

Erza eyed him worriedly. "Yes," she said slowly. "Are you okay? Should I take you to the hospital? Do you think you have a concussion?"

"No, I think I'll be fine. I just didn't see you at all." She frowned.

"I'm so sorry. I'd literally just stepped from the trees." Erza took his hand and pulled him to his feet. Besides his head Jellal didn't think he was too injured. "Let's get you to that bench over there. I think you need a minute."

"Probably." He let her lead him to the bench and grit his teeth at a burst of pain from his knee. "Ah, I think I banged up my knee, too. It's bleeding."

"Fuck, I'm so sorry!" Erza's voice was reaching the frantic shakiness he remembered from the incident with Rogue. "I should've been watching more and the sun is barely up so _of course_ things are still shadowy! I'm so –"

"Erza," he interrupted. "I wasn't watching either. I was… distracted. It's not your fault." She continued to fret beside him and without thinking he placed his hand on her thigh to calm her. "I'll be alright. I didn't hurt _you_ did I?"

She wrapped her hand around his and whispered, "No. I'm fine. You… pretty much broke my fall." Jellal did his best to smile at her.

"Then it's all okay. I'll live."

"I feel really horrible about this. I'm not usually so unaware of my surroundings."

"Please don't feel bad. I don't blame you at all."

"Let me make things up to you?" Jellal quirked an eyebrow. "Come over for dinner tonight? If you won't let me accept the blame for this mess, at least let me do something nice."

"Well –"

"Rogue is gone already and it's really no trouble. Please?" Her cheeks suddenly turned pink and she laughed nervously. "Is that too forward a request? I don't mean for it to be, I just –"

"It's not too forward," he interrupted her even though he was enjoying the blush on her face. "I'll come. What time do you want me?" After the question was posed Jellal realized how it sounded but the way she flustered so adorably stopped him from attempting to reword.

"Six-ish? Is that okay?"

"Sounds perfect." Erza didn't let go of his hand right away and for the first time in months he felt that twinge of excited agitation he'd missed so much.


	9. Chapter 9

"How did you know I preferred beer to wine?" Jellal asked when she passed him a bottle. Erza raked her eyes over him in a way that made the hair on his arms prickle.

"Honestly, I didn't. I prefer beer for myself." She sipped from her bottle and glanced at the oven timer. "But since you asked, I'd say it would've been a few things that gave you away."

"Such as?" Jellal was enjoying the open way she flirted with him since his arrival.

"Well, for one, you admitted you weren't actually a poet. If you'd claimed the talent, I'd probably assume you were a whiskey or wine drinker."

"Creative bias proves alcohol preference?"

"It can – stereotypically speaking, of course. But I can't imagine someone with a job as potentially stressful as yours falling back on all the pomp and decadence as a bottle of wine. The fragile glasses, the corking, and pouring… no. No, I can't see you being that guy."

"Well, you're not wrong." He laughed easily. "That's a lot of steps I don't want to go through at the end of my day. Beer is completely self-contained and that's important to me."

"I figured." Erza winked. "A man's got to have his priorities."

"Why do _you_ prefer beer?"

"Do you honestly think wine glasses would last more than ten minutes in a house with a six year old boy and his rambunctious friends?" Her mock incredulity amused him. "Come on, Jellal, I know you know better than that."

"Fair enough."

"I don't really drink enough to warrant the purchase of decent glasses, anyway. This week is an exception because Rogue is gone and I'm an adult who's allowed to have drinks with dinner. Plus, I _d_ o have company."

The timer went off and interrupted their conversation. He'd only sampled her culinary skills twice so far and she didn't disappoint. After eating, Jellal was a model guest by helping Erza clean up. When he placed the last handful of forks on the drying rack he leaned against the counter and smiled down at her. She wiped her hands on a towel and stood incredibly close. Her fingers wrapped around his wrist and her mouth opened to speak just as the doorbell rang rudely. The glare Erza directed toward the front hall made him hope to never be on the receiving end of such ire.

"Excuse me," she mumbled and he trailed behind her stopping in the archway that split into the living room, and front hall. Jellal watched Erza quickly dispatch the delivery man and leave the box he'd brought unchecked in the entryway.

"You're not even going to open it?"

"It's just some stuff the Institute sent that's completely unimportant right now." Erza leaned against the archway frame and grinned at him. "So. I think it's time we had a conversation regarding the fact that you're not Rogue's teacher anymore."

Jellal smirked and stepped toward her. Erza allowed him to all but pin her body between his and the wood of the frame. "No, I'm not."

"And unless I'm mistaken," Her hand strayed to his chest and she lightly grasped the fabric of his t-shirt. "There's been this… _thing_ hanging between us for a very long time." She looked up at him and Jellal's hands grazed up her arms, skimming over them until his fingertips slid into her hair and his thumbs caressed either side of her jaw. He leaned in – his cheek against hers and his lips brushing the shell of her ear.

"You aren't mistaken," he whispered before turning his head to capture Erza's lips in urgent, but agonizingly slow, kiss. Her mouth was hot and tasted faintly of beer, but the flavor struck him as incredibly addictive. The ever-tightening string that connected them suddenly snapped and there was no more reason for distance.

He kissed her with all of the pent-up frustration that had been coursing through his body for months, and couldn't be bothered with an attempt to stop the sound of pleasure that growled low in his chest. When Jellal finally pulled back her lips were red and swollen – deliciously so – and her cheeks dusted with a complimentary pink. Erza smiled up at him when his thumb brushed over her bottom lip. There was no leverage between them for her to meet him halfway so her arms wound around his neck and brought him back down for another searing kiss.

Jellal's hands settled on her waist and his fingers inched their way beneath the hem of her shirt; he _needed_ to touch her. When his tongue brushed against the seam of her lips Erza didn't hesitate to dash out and collide with him. He wondered if every part of her was as warm as her mouth. Erza pushed against his chest and he leaned back in dazed confusion.

"Couch," she muttered breathlessly and guided him to fall into the cushions. An eyebrow shot up when she straddled his lap and gazed down at him. "I've been playing by the rules for months, Jellal. _Months_. Having feelings for my son's teacher took some time to reconcile but I'm over it."

"You are?" he asked stupidly.

"I'm tired of denying the way I feel and holding back because of conflicting interests." She pressed her chest against his and the way her hips settled over him sent flickers of heated pleasure all the way to the tips of his fingers. Every last vestige of space or breath between their bodies fizzled.

"You don't think maybe –" He didn't want to protest but, more than that, he didn't want to end up with nothing but a one night stand.

"I'm not pulling you into my bed tonight, Jellal," she breathed against his lips. "Not tonight. But I do need you to kiss me before I combust."

He decided he could live with that, and let himself drown in the sensations of Erza in his lap and against his chest and… _in his lap_. She was soft and firm and so much better than he'd dared to imagine. The quiet whimper that escaped her lips had him clutching her waist to both pull her impossibly closer and press her downward for shameless friction. Erza's fingers feathered through his hair tugging on his scalp in the most exquisitely painful way. If he could pry his hands from her body he'd have them tangled in her own strands but that could wait – he'd come back to the hair later. Erza pulled her mouth from his and laughed breathily.

"I knew you'd be a good kisser."

"Did you?" He pressed his nose into the wonderfully soft skin of her neck and inhaled deeply. She smelled vaguely of soap and something sweet he couldn't quite identify – he hoped the scent would linger on his shirt later.

"Hm," she mumbled when he took her skin into a wet, open mouthed kiss. "I did."

"So you thought about kissing me?" Jellal asked before sucking hard. Erza reacted immediately - her thighs tightened around his hips and she arched into him.

"Yes, I –" She cut off into a strangled, high pitched groan as he grazed over the reddened area gently with his teeth.

"A lot?" He persisted. He moved to her jaw and ghosted his lips over the spot just under her chin. She inched ever closer and Jellal thought for sure he could feel the heat emanating from the place between her legs that was covered only with a few layers of cotton.

"Mmhm." Jellal could feel the vibrations in her throat.

"But this is better?" He left one more red mark on her neck and felt a ridiculously animalistic sense of pride knowing they'd be there for a day or two. Erza forcefully pushed him back against the couch cushions and smirked in a wicked – but incredibly sexy – way.

"You're just teasing me now." She slid her hands beneath his shirt and her fingers fanned out across his chest. Somewhere in the back of his mind where rational thought was still possible Jellal was grateful for all his running and attempts at fitness. "My turn," Erza whispered indecently in his ear before swiftly moving to his neck and sucking his skin into her mouth forcefully. She was not subtle at all in the way she intended to mark him. Her fingernails scratched down his chest and Jellal's eyes rolled back into his head before sliding shut. This woman would be the death of him.

Erza left twice as many marks on him as he'd left on her and kissed every one of them softly before sliding off his lap and pressing into his side. The sun had long set and her living room was draped in darkness. Even in his most fervent fantasies he'd never imagined her so… _aggressive_. Jellal didn't know if this was because he hadn't dared to imagine she'd return his feelings with such intensity or because his imagination just wasn't that creative. Either way, Erza surprised him and it was definitely for the best.

"I want to take you out properly," Jellal said quietly into the dark room, fumbling for her hand. Erza threaded their fingers together and he felt her head rest against his shoulder.

"I'd like that."

"Tomorrow?" Erza's free hand pressed against his cheek and turned his head toward her. He could barely see her face in the moonlight.

"I hope you don't think that this week when Rogue is gone that this is all we'll have." She paused and licked her lips. "This isn't just a quickie for me, Jellal. When I say that I really like you, I mean it."

"Erza you've been on my mind for damn near eight months. If a quick fling was all I wanted, I wouldn't have waited for you. I _want_ to be with you. And -" He sighed and brushed the back of her hand with his thumb. "And I don't think Rogue has to be out of town for me to be happy with you. I've never thought of him as an obstacle or something that needs to be out of the way for me to be here. That's part of the reason I had to draw a line until he wasn't in my class anymore."

Erza smiled brightly in the darkness and lifted herself back into his lap. She kissed him gently and hid her face in the crook of his neck.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Jellal saw Erza four times that first week and the way she made his heart race hadn't abated in the slightest. It was incredibly surreal to be with her out in public and not have to cage his affection. A latent concern had been that once they became better acquainted the attraction would fade and all the waiting, anticipation and prelude would be for nothing but a five minute symphony. Jellal supposed that there was still a chance for that to happen. A week was nothing in the grand scheme of time spent in a relationship.

Rogue would return from his camping trip in a few hours and he didn't know how things would proceed after that. It was entirely possible the little boy hadn't completely conceptualized his mother dating his former teacher and wouldn't want to share her attentions. As much as he hated the thought of it, Jellal knew in that situation he'd step aside without making a scene. Rogue needed his mom more than Jellal needed a girlfriend.

They hadn't made plans for the weekend under the pretense of Rogue unwinding from his trip and Erza wanting time to chat about dating his old teacher before exposing him to the new dynamic. Jellal didn't think it was a bad idea, it was a very good one in fact, but he had nerves about it nonetheless.

He'd been reclining on his balcony watching the sunset while Milliana studiously cleaned her paws near the sliding glass door. She'd caught a spider moments earlier and dubbed the hunt sufficient enough to warrant a thorough tidying. Jellal's phone chimed next to him and he mindlessly reached for it. The notification was an email from Erza and without trying to feel rushed he opened the message. She wanted him to join them for dinner and he felt both relieved and anxious. Surely if Rogue had voiced any objections she wouldn't be inviting him over… _right?_ In any case he knew he needed a shower before going _anywhere_.

An hour later he arrived at Erza's house to find Rogue sitting on the front porch poking at invisible bugs in the flowerbeds with a stick. When he saw Jellal he brightened.

"Hey, Mister Fernandes!" His face was a shade darker and the change was likely due to the amount of time he'd spent outdoors while away. "Mom's on the phone with her boss so you should probably wait out here. They're _so boring_." Jellal laughed and took a seat next to Rogue on the steps.

"Boring, huh?"

"Yep. Mister Dreyer is a tiny, and _hairy_ , man. He talks _a lot_."

"I see. Well how about you tell me about not-boring stuff? How was your trip? Did you have a good time with Sting?"

"I sure did, Mister Fernandes! His dad is kinda loud though, and I think Sting missed his mom."

"Did you get to sleep in a tent?"

"Yep…" Rogue paused and looked up at Jellal with a very straight face. "Well, we _did_ , but Sting's dad accidentally set it on fire. After that they made us sleep in a cabin."

Jellal cleared his throat in an attempt to cover his laugh. "How did he accidentally set a tent on fire?"

Rogue sighed and went back to poking in the flowerbed. "That's the thing, Mister Fernandes. I have no idea. One minute he was roasting marshmallows and the next… tent fire."

"The move to a cabin was probably for the best, then. What other kinds of stuff did you do?"

"Oh, you know. Outdoors stuff - we went fishing and learned how to pick out poisonous, itchy plants. My mom said I can go next year if I want."

"Well, I'm glad you had a good time." Rogue was quiet for a moment before looking back up at him again seriously.

"My mom told me that she spent a lot of time with you while I was gone." Jellal's face felt warm.

"Uh, yeah, that's… yes she did." Rogue nodded.

"I can tell she likes you Mister Fernandes. Will you be nice to her? And not –" he faltered and sighed. "Not leave? Like my dad? I think my dad made her sad a lot."

"Rogue," Jellal paused. This wasn't the conversation he'd expected to have. "This stuff between me and your mom is kind of new, and I don't know how things will happen in the future. But I can definitely promise that I'll do my best to make her smile and not sad."

"Thanks, Mister Fernandes." Rogue nodded sagely.

"It's important to me that you're also happy. Is it okay with you that I spend time with your mom? I really like her, too."

"She's pretty, huh? Nobody has hair like my mom."

Jellal laughed. "She's pretty, yes, but that's not the only reason I like her. She's also very smart and capable."

"That's good. Being pretty isn't the most important thing, you know." Jellal raised his eyebrows. There was a rustling inside the house and they heard Erza calling for Rogue. "We'd better go." He stood and Jellal followed suit. "So…" Rogue toed the front door mat.

"What is it?"

"Can I just ask one thing?"

"You can ask me whatever you want."

"Does this mean that you're my mom's… boyfriend?" Jellal knelt down to Rogue's level.

"Does that title bother you?" he asked quietly.

"No." Rogue shrugged. "I just wanted to know what to call you if someone asks."

"Do you think many people will ask?"

"Well…" he said slowly. "Mister Ichiya asks me sometimes if my mom has a boyfriend and he talks about how good she smells a lot." Rogue wrinkled his nose. "It gets on my nerves."

"Who's Mister Ichiya?"

"I think he works for Mister Dreyer, too. He's really short and always at the Institute when I go up there. He told my mom once she was too gorgeous to be by herself. I don't like him."

"Well –"

"Can I tell him the next time I see him that my mom has a boyfriend and to not talk to her anymore?"

"Uh, well…" Jellal squirmed. "I think maybe that should be something you discuss with your mom first. She might not want to talk about her personal life at work." He didn't want to say that he already disliked this Ichiya guy, too.

Rogue sighed dramatically. "I guess. Anyway, Mister Fernandes, I'm happy you're going to be around more."

"Me too." Jellal smiled and stood just as the front door opened.

"There you are, Rogue!" Erza stepped from the house and noticed Jellal had arrived. "Oh! You're here. I had no idea."

"It's fine, mom," Rogue supplied. "We were just talking about man things. I'll go wash my hands for dinner." Erza's eyebrows flew up as her son marched inside the house.

 _"Man things?"_ She asked when he disappeared down the hallway.

"He wanted to make sure I would treat you properly." Jellal winked, and pulled Erza against him.

"How noble," Erza said teasingly. "He was excited to see you, I think. All evening he's been bouncing off the walls. I'm willing to bet be crashes hard after dinner."

"He mentioned Natsu set a tent on fire?"

Erza rolled her eyes. "I swear, Lucy Dragneel is a saint. I hope you aren't as prone to disaster as he is."

"I don't think so." Jellal grinned and nudged her nose with his.

"Good." She tilted her head and kissed him. "This is a rent house, after all. I'd like my deposit back when I move out." Jellal laughed and kissed her once more before being led into the house.


	10. Chapter 10

As the summer slowly crawled to a close Jellal spent more of his afternoons at the school trying to prepare for the upcoming fall semester; he liked his classroom to have variations between sessions and it took some effort. Erza dropped a bit of a bomb on him the night before and he still wasn't sure how to handle it. Time alone doing menial tasks like counting and diving markers, and labeling cubby baskets would help him think things through.

"Knock, knock!" Ultear popped her head into his classroom. "Wow. You're already so much more further along than me." She glanced around before making herself comfortable in his desk chair.

"Don't you think if you're behind you should be handling that instead of lounging in my chair?" Jellal teased.

"Nah, this is more interesting. How are things with Erza? I saw you two at the food truck event in the park with her son but I didn't get a chance to say anything."

"Things are fine."

 _"Fine?"_ She quirked an eyebrow. "That's not really a word commonly used to describe a blissfully new relationship."

Jellal sighed and rolled his eyes. He should've known better than to drop his guard around Ultear. "I'm just distracted. Things are great."

"Great, huh?" She prodded him silently and he didn't even have to look in her direction to know she was doing it.

"You're so _nosey_ , Ultear."

"Why do these things still surprise you?" She let him gather his thoughts. Jellal always needed time to compose himself before dumping information.

"Rogue's paternal grandmother is coming to Magnolia for a week before school starts again and Erza is really stressed out about it."

"Is she an unpleasant woman or something?"

"According to Erza she's pretty bitter about her son's death and there's a lot of blame she likes to throw around. Moving away from Crocus and separating her from Rogue is still a huge area of contention between them." Jellal carefully stacked the boxes of crayons on a shelf and turned around. "This kind of family discord isn't new to me but it's been a very long time since I've had to deal with it."

"Is she asking you to stay away while the woman is in town?"

"I offered to keep a distance during the visit just so things would go smoother but I think Erza hated that idea even more than the prospect of her hating me outwardly."

"How does the kid feel about it?"

"I think he's indifferent. I guess it's just Erza she takes issue with."

"Wow. That sounds like a hornet's nest of a problem. I bet you didn't think you'd be faced with _Meet the Family_ drama three months in."

"I know. I don't want to interfere _at all_. Erza and I haven't been together very long so I don't even feel like this is something I'm entitled to have an opinion on."

"But she's telling you how she feels and has asked for your presence and support so it must be a big deal for her."

Jellal sighed. "It is. I can tell it's _quite_ a big deal."

"New topic." Ultear's control of their conversations sometimes gave him whiplash. "Besides all this family drama, are you happy with her?"

"I am." Jellal smiled wistfully.

"Well, I'm glad to see you've finally _relieved_ your _tension_."

His face turned red and he frowned. "Good grief, Ultear." She laughed for a moment before cutting off abruptly at his discomfort.

"Oh, my god!" she gasped. "You _haven't!_ Jellal! How can you date for almost the entire summer and not sleep with her yet?!"

"Because! There's… _reasons!_ "

"I'm _very_ curious about these reasons."

"Well, for one thing Rogue is always around and I'm not sure I'm okay with… things progressing… in a room down the hall from where he sleeps." He stumbled over his words and Ultear giggled with embarrassing delight.

"You do realize that couples who live together and have more than one child copulate within walking distance of the already existing children, right?"

"Of course I know that!"

"Then what on earth is the problem?"

"Well I can't leave Milliana overnight either and –"

"Jellal. I swear to god if you bring up your cat one more time in a conversation about love and relationships I'll have to knock some sense into you myself."

"Okay, okay. The truth is I don't want sex with Erza to just be a quick bang in the bed where I have to leave afterwards because of…" Ultear glared at him in a warning. " _Outside responsibilities_ … and I don't know how Erza feels about Rogue going to sleep with me there and waking up seeing I'm still around."

"And you haven't even discussed it?"

"We have… a little. I just…" Ultear laughed loudly and shook her head.

"I'm teasing you, and I'm sorry. It's obvious that you're such a romantic at heart that you have this idea that your first time with her should be special, and that's fine! But I think you know that life doesn't always leave room for rose petals and romance. I can't believe you'd leave a lady hanging all summer. That's shameful. Erza is probably wondering what she's doing wrong."

"I've made a mess of things, haven't I?" Ultear stood from his chair and grinned.

"No, not totally. When does the old lady come in?"

"Tonight, I think."

"Well, by the time she leaves I'm sure Erza will be so wound up it won't take much to get her going."

"Thanks for using small words so I can understand them, Ultear," Jellal said dryly. She only laughed as she walked out of his classroom.

He'd been advised to call her Doctor Falcon; only Rogue was granted special privilege to use _grandma_. Erza informed him that the woman had been a pianist in her day and liked to tout her experience playing for many a royal ear across the globe. By the time Bacchus and Erza had begun dating she'd already retired and tutored only the wealthiest young girls in Crocus from her home - as even a position at the royal academy had been beneath her. Jellal thought she had to be exaggerating – no _one_ person could possibly be so insufferably elitist.

Doctor Falcon's train turned out to be several hours late and under duress, that she apologized for several times, Erza asked if Jellal minded looking after Rogue while she went to collect the elderly woman from the station. The night was half over and the boy was already asleep and she didn't want to wake him just for the quick trip. He assured her that it wasn't a problem and kissed her on the forehead before she left.

When he heard Erza's keys in the front door upon her return his heart leapt into his throat and he unconsciously straightened his shirt. He hadn't planned on being present for the older woman's arrival and his pants probably had traces of Milliana on them. Hopefully the Doctor Falcon wasn't allergic to cats. A cantankerous voice carried from the entryway.

"I just don't see what the problem would've been in bringing the boy with you instead of leaving him with a stranger!"

"Jellal isn't a stranger, Doctor Falcon."

"He may as well be. I'll reserve my own judgment but what would Bacchus say if he knew you left his son with a strange man?"

Jellal cringed. Erza hadn't been exaggerating _at all_. Doctor Falcon was a nightmare and she hadn't even been in the house for more than five minutes.

"He was Rogue's teacher this last school year and I trust him completely. Besides, I stopped caring abo –"

"You're back!" Jellal slipped into the hallway just in time to keep Erza from finishing her sentence. She grimaced at him and he wanted to embrace her in a sympathetic gesture.

"So you're the stranger looking after my grandson?" Doctor Falcon wasn't at all what he'd pictured. She was tall and slender with a graceful mane of solid grey hair that looked perfectly coiffed despite the hour and a lengthy train experience. He tried to tell himself that Porlyusica was much more terrifying but this woman's eyes seemed to slice right through him.

"Jellal," Erza spoke up. "This is Doctor Falcon, Rogue's grandmother. Doctor Falcon, this is Jellal Fernandes."

"Fernandes, hm?" She inspected the tattoo on his face unapologetically with narrowed eyes. "I met your father once; you look just like him in his youth. Dreadful man. Don't think you can inflict your family's barbarous ways on Rogue. If you even think of marking him –"

"Doctor Falcon!" Erza exclaimed in horror.

"I assure you that is the farthest thing from my mind," Jellal interjected smoothly. "My father was exactly as dreadful as you say, though."

"Hm," she muttered. "What on Earthland are you doing all the way over here? Shouldn't you be across the sea sitting in the government house?"

He laughed lightly and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Probably, but I had a bit of a rebellious stage, I guess. I decided I'd let my sisters handle all of that and run off to teach instead."

"What do you suppose your old goat of a father would say if he knew?"

"Oh, if he were still alive he'd probably call me a bitter disappointment." He grinned charmingly. "But between you and me, it certainly wouldn't be the first time he said such a thing."

Doctor Falcon eyed him shrewdly for a several long seconds before sweeping past. "Erza, I'd like some tea before bed. I'll wait in the kitchen while you say goodbye to your guest."

 _"Jellal!"_ Erza whispered. "You've got some serious nerve! I've never seen anyone speak to her that way and not be flayed in return!"

"I've got a lot of experience with grouchy people, I guess." He shrugged and wrapped his arms around her. "I honestly thought you were exaggerating when you described her to me."

"Ugh, I wish."

"I better go before she has a fit about waiting. Call me tomorrow?"

She smiled up at him. "I will. You may need to talk me off a ledge."

"Anything for you." He kissed her goodbye and left her to handle Doctor Falcon on her own.

To Erza's continued surprise the week passed smoothly. Doctor Falcon kept her barbs under control and didn't complain when Jellal joined them for dinner several times. Despite how she treated adults, the woman never had anything but sweet words for her grandson. She exclaimed generously at his dragon collection and had no complaints against listening to him talk her ear off about his fascinations.

On the night before her final day in Magnolia she played the piano for them – though, only after a complaint that Erza's piano was an upright and not the grand she was used to. Erza melted into Jellal's side on the couch as Rogue leaned his head against his grandmother's shoulder as she played. The music ebbed and swelled, filling the house with its intoxicating presence. Jellal wasn't sure if the piece was meant to be a lullaby but Rogue drifted off to sleep all the same. Erza collected him in her arms and excused herself to put him in bed.

"I'm not going to mince words with you, Jellal Fernandes. I don't throw around useless compliments, but I'm glad she has you." Doctor Falcon spoke to him from her place on the piano bench. He arched an eyebrow in surprise, and decided not to mince words with her either.

"You realize, though, that Erza doesn't need me. She and Rogue were doing quite well before I ever came into the picture."

"Oh, I don't deny that. Erza has always been a well put together young woman. I know she… well she _tried_ with my son but –" The older woman sighed heavily and brought the cover down over the keys. "Bacchus was always his father's child - wild and unkempt. In the end it was that incorrigible nature that killed him."

"I'm sorry for your loss, Doctor Falcon."

"And I am sorry for yours." She looked over at him with those deadly eyes of hers and he understood her to mean his entire family. "I'd tell you to take good care of my family here but, as we've just concluded, it's unnecessary as Erza can handle herself and –" She stood and prepared to take her leave. "I know that you will."

Doctor Falcon left him alone in the living room and he thought that despite all her spines and stings, she wasn't a bad person.


	11. Chapter 11

Jellal smiled when Erza's email came through. _The Falcon has flown. Meet me for dinner at Mira's?_ He responded quickly and left Milliana on the couch to change into more presentable clothes.

 _Mira's_ was a restaurant a block from his building that sat half-hidden by trees. It was a popular place for families during lunch but dinner hour was more subdued. When Erza arrived she was by herself and immediately ordered a cocktail.

"Where's Rogue?"

"Oh, Lucy called an hour ago. They're trying out that new drive-in theater across town tonight and Rogue really wanted to go. He's staying the night there and honestly I need a break."

"I don't blame you." He smiled at her and she reached across the table to take his hand.

"I owe you about a thousand thank-you's. Lady Falcon has never been so well mannered in my presence before and I half-expected a war to break out. She seemed to like you and keep her tongue in check."

"Lady Falcon?" Jellal chuckled.

"That's what I call her when she's not here to correct me. I think it's fitting." Erza sipped her drink and smirked. "By the way, I heard what she said to you about family."

"You heard all that?"

"I may have been eavesdropping a little bit." Her caught herself and quickly finished. "Not on purpose, of course! I was on my way back downstairs and heard her going on about Bacchus. Never have I ever heard her speak of him that way… or me."

Jellal sighed. "Well, I won't defend her and I believe you when you say she's horrible most of the time. I can't imagine what about me she found so amusing but I'm glad that she went easy on you this time."

"You honestly don't know?" Erza laughed a little louder than usual and he wondered if her drink was stronger than she thought. "You're so oblivious sometimes, Jellal. She liked you because you didn't take her shit, you're well spoken, and Rogue completely adores you. Honestly, any other man would've been reduced to a puddle of bloody goo in my hallway."

"I'm going to take all that as a compliment." He paused and glanced at her empty glass. "Have you eaten today?"

"No, why?"

"You should probably have something before ordering a second drink." Erza grinned and leaned her chin on her palm.

"Probably."

When they left _Mira's_ the street lamps twinkled in the darkness. Erza wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss. They hadn't had many private moments together in the last week – not that a sidewalk could be considered private – and her lips were urgent. She pulled back a fraction and surprised him with a request.

"Take me to your apartment? I don't want to go home tonight and I've never been to your place. You've met Lady Falcon and now I want to meet your cat."

"I wish I could say Milliana will be easier on you than Lady Falcon was on me but she literally chased off the last girlfriend I had." Erza laughed and took his hand.

"I like her already." Jellal was glad he wasn't a messy guy and that a surprise visit from a woman he was dating wouldn't be preceded by a frantic tossing of dirty boxers and socks into the closet. The only light in his living room was the yellow reflection of Milliana's eyes from her perch on the back of the couch. He switched on a lamp and she stared at the two of them silently.

"She's so… _fluffy!_ "

"Well, all cats have fur."

Erza glanced up at him dryly. "I know that. I just meant I've never seen one with so much of it before. She's gorgeous. Was she expensive?"

"Depends on how you look at it," he laughed and scooped Milliana up from the cushions. "I found her in an ally under some boxes but right out of the gate she cost me nearly four hundred dollars in vet bills." The cat leaned forward to sniff the hand Erza offered in her direction.

"Was she sick?"

"There were a few problems, but nothing lingering. I couldn't leave her there and she's been a great companion so I'd say it was worth it." Milliana shoved her head into Erza's palm and rumbled in a deep purr. "Even if she destroys my shoe laces on a regular basis."

"I hear cats like strings." Erza laughed. Milliana struggled to be free of Jellal and he let her leap gracefully to the floor where she proceeded to circle Erza's ankles. He tossed his keys on a table next to the couch and wandered into the kitchen.

"Do you want another drink or…"

"No, I think I've had enough alcohol. Maybe some water, though?" When Jellal returned to the living room he found Erza on the couch with Milliana curled into the typical ball on her chest.

"Well, I guess she likes you if she's invading your space already." He handed Erza the glass of water and joined her on the sofa.

"Rogue keeps bugging me for a cat. I guess Sting has a couple cats at his house."

"Cats are a whole lot less maintenance than dogs, but they can be just as destructive."

"I'm still thinking about it." Erza's hand gently stroked Milliana's fur and she reached a paw over to hook a claw in the sleeve of Jellal's t-shirt. "Yours is very sweet and quiet."

"That's just what she wants you to think. I'm surprised she's so agreeable, to be honest. I don't bring a lot of people here but the way she glared at Ultear was downright vicious."

"Ultear?"

"She's a good friend who also teaches at Fairy Tail. I've known her since college and she not only landed me a job interview, but helped me finalize all my citizenship documents after I got my bachelor's degree. An acquaintance of hers actually found this apartment for me."

"Was she the one you were with at the Harvest Festival? The one with the dark hair?"

"Yep, that's her." Jellal sighed. "She teased me mercilessly that day and said my _infatuation_ with you was obvious and all over my face." Erza laughed suddenly enough for Milliana to jump from her lap and disappear.

"I'm afraid it was, Jellal. She was completely right."

"Yeah, well," he grumbled. "Ultear usually is right. I've come to accept it, however humiliating."

"I wish I had more friends at work, but I'd rather not spend my free time with boorish professors and researchers. I'm the only woman at this branch and it complicates things."

"Rogue told me about a Mister Ichiya. Is he not friend material?"

Erza groaned and hid her face in his shoulder. "I can't believe Rogue told you about that guy. He's _such_ a creep and I think maybe he has a fetish with scent."

"Rogue said he's mentioned before how good you smell." Jellal teased.

"He's a horrible little troll." Erza told him about a few of her friends back in Crocus but admitted she didn't have many because her job had been very demanding. Lucy was her closest friend in Magnolia and was grateful for the way she and Natsu encouraged their sons' friendship.

A crash from the dining room forced Jellal from the couch. Milliana's food dish was empty and her protest had begun. Erza perused his bookshelves and grinned when he returned.

"There's a lot of serious reading material over here. I didn't realize teaching kindergarten required this amount of academic reference." She winked at him teasingly.

"Ultear likes to joke that I spent six years in school to teach kids barely out of diapers how to hold crayons and read books with cardboard pages." Erza laughed and snatched his hand to thread their fingers together.

"Did you?"

"Not exactly. I'm qualified to teach kids or other teachers on a collegiate level, but I like kids more than most college students." He shrugged. "When I applied at Fairy Tail the only position open was kindergarten. Maybe one day I'll move up a grade level but I'm happy."

"I can tell you enjoy your job, and there should be more teachers like you." Jellal pulled her into an embrace.

"I think you're probably a little biased." He grinned down at her.

"Maybe, but it doesn't change anything." Erza leaned up to kiss him and whispered. "I don't want to talk about work anymore, Jellal."

"No?" Her fingers hooked into the belt loops of his shorts and a thrill of excitement surged through his limbs. He backed her against the wall beside the row of shelves and pressed his body flush against hers.

"No." She said softly, her fingers sliding beneath his t-shirt to push it up and over his head.

"Me neither," Jellal whispered before kissing her ardently. Erza's tongue slipped hotly against his and the sensation sent shivers of pleasure over every inch of his skin. Her fingers were in his hair and even though nearly every part of him was touching every part of her, it still wasn't enough.

His hand found the hem of her sun dress and he hitched her thigh around his waist. Erza smiled against his lips and tightened her arms around his shoulders. When she fell into his bed a few moments later and her brilliant hair spilled over his sheets with all that naked skin glowing in the moonlight he realized that he was very much in love with her and wondered how long he would have to wait before saying so.

The first week of school was a flurry of exhausting excitement. Jellal had a whole new group of students and no aide to help him out. Juvia had moved on to finish her degree and he'd forgotten how taxing it was to be the only adult in the room. Learning the ticks and quirks of a new class always took him about two weeks and he spent many evenings tailoring the curriculum to meet the needs of his students. Teaching at a private institution like Fairy Tail gave him that latitude as opposed to the more rigid guidelines of the public school system.

Much to his dismay he didn't have much time to share with Erza that first month and several nights he'd fallen asleep in the middle of an email conversation. He felt guilty for it but she understood his fatigue. The second weekend in September was a long one and she wanted him to meet her on the foot trail for a run. The mornings were cooling off and Rogue had a new bicycle he was itching to break in. Together they ran the four miles between Jellal's building and the neighborhood on the other end of the greenbelt.

"Are you guys tired already?" Rogue shouted disbelievingly as he circled the bench Jellal and Erza had collapsed onto.

"Asks the boy on the bike?" Jellal laughed.

"Oh, please." Erza grinned. "He could've run the whole way and still have energy left to tease you with."

Jellal leaned against the back of the bench. "Probably. Kids are constantly amazing me with their reserves of vitality."

"Come on then, old man." She pulled him to his feet. "We can walk the rest of the way back. I wanted to ask you something while the youngling is distracted."

"So I'm an old man now? One moment of exhaustion catapults me into elderly status?" Jellal wrapped his arm loosely around her shoulders. "You shouldn't be wasting your time with a geriatric like me."

"I don't know, maybe I like my men seasoned with age?"

"Seasoned?" he laughed loudly.

"Or maybe just broken in." Erza winked up at him and pressed a kiss to his jaw. "I'm kidding."

"What's on your mind?"

"Well –" she drew the word out and absently reached up to link the hand that hung over her shoulder with hers. "I was thinking maybe you could stay with me this weekend. With school back in session and you being so worn out during the week, I've missed you." Erza paused and cleared her throat. "No pressure, of course! If you'd rather not, that's fine. I just –"

"Erza." He stopped walking and smiled down at her flustered expression. "I've missed you too. I'm sorry for not being around as much but I thought I owed you more than half my attention. I'd love to stay with you this weekend."

"I know you worry about Milliana so I thought maybe we could spend some time at your apartment. Rogue is very curious about where you live." Jellal leaned against her and pressed his forehead against hers.

"You think of everything. How'd I get so lucky?"

Erza sighed dramatically and shrugged. "I don't know because I'm pretty amazing."

Jellal laughed and kissed her quickly.

" _Come on_ , guys! I'm _starving!_ Get a room or take me home!" Rogue shouted as he circled them on his bike once again.


	12. Chapter 12

_Two years later…_

Jellal swept the loose papers on his desk into a folder and sighed. The sunlight was already starting to creep across the floor and he wanted nothing more than to collapse into bed. But he couldn't. No, he still had to tidy his classroom and walk a stack of permission slips down to the principal's office

"Je- I mean, _Mister Fernandes_?" Rogue peeked into his classroom. They'd agreed on the formal name for when they were at school.

"Rogue! What are you still doing here? It's –" Jellal glanced at his wristwatch and winced; it was after four. "Well, I suppose it's late for both of us. Need a ride home?"

"Yeah," Rogue mumbled sheepishly. "I was reading and lost track of time."

"That happens sometimes. Just let me grab a few things and we'll go."

"I was going to call mom but I didn't want to disturb her." The boy shrugged and helpfully grabbed Jellal's messenger bag from the back of his desk chair. "You know how she is in the late afternoon."

"I do," Jellal laughed. "And I don't blame you at all for saving that as a last resort."

"How much longer?" Rogue asked.

"Mm… not too much more time now. Late winter is what I'm told."

"That's a long time," Rogue sighed.

"Probably longer for your mom than you." Jellal winked down at the boy and together they left the classroom in darkness.

"Do you think she'll cave on what I want for my birthday?"

"Well –" Jellal stalled. He tried not to wedge himself between Erza and Rogue when she vehemently put her foot down about something. "I think maybe you should lay off that for a while. You don't turn nine until next year and I think she may feel differently by then."

"You do?"

"Just give her some time, okay? I don't think she was anticipating you wanting to commandeer a vehicle before the age of sixteen."

"Natsu lets Sting tear around on his four-wheeler all the time and no one's ever been hurt! Well… no one but Natsu anyway. He's always doing stuff like that, though! Could you maybe talk to her? Mom listens to you!"

"Quick tip: don't mention the crazy stuff Sting's dad does when trying to get your mom to agree to the four-wheeler. It's definitely not in your best interest."

"Alright," Rogue drawled, shuffling his feet through the parking lot. "What about _you_ , then?"

"What _about_ me?" Jellal quirked an eyebrow and unlocked his car. Rogue rolled his eyes and tossed his backpack in the backseat.

"Are you going to ask my mom to marry you _or what?_ It's taking you forever."

"I –"

"My grandma says you're the laziest man alive for taking so long. She says –"

"Okay, enough. I don't really need a breakdown on everything Doctor Falcon has ever said about me. I can guess."

 _"Well?"_

"These things take time! I can't just –"

"I figure if you can get her to marry you, then you can convince her that a four-wheeler is okay, too." Jellal laughed out loud.

"It's all clear now! You have a hidden agenda!" Jellal pulled his car into the driveway of the house they'd only signed paperwork on three months prior. "Listen, Rogue, even if your mom says she'll marry me, that's completely unrelated to your birthday."

"But she'll be in a better mood!"

"I'm making no promises, okay? If you want this thing for your birthday, then you need to present it to your mom in a language she understands. Do some research and maybe talk to Sting's mom about safety."

"I can totally do that!" Rogue exclaimed. The two of them stepped from the car and approached the front door.

"But don't you go getting me into trouble! I'm trying to remain neutral on this."

Rogue looked up at him with a straight face. "It's 'cause you're scared of her, huh?" Jellal shifted on his feet. "She goes from crying to scary really quick lately."

"You're too observant for your age, Rogue," Jellal mumbled. When they entered the house Rogue flew up the stairs to his room and Jellal hung his bag on the set of hooks by the door. Erza wasn't in the kitchen or the living room and the house was unusually quiet. Not even Milliana greeted him at the door; she'd been much more attached to Erza in recent months and Jellal assumed this to be a female solidarity thing.

He found Erza asleep on their bed covered in a fuzzy blanket while Milliana sat sentry near her feet. "Hey, Milli-girl," Jellal whispered, reaching out to stroke her fur. Erza stirred under her blanket and rolled over.

"Is Rogue with you? He said he'd call me this morning when he was ready but –" Her mouth widened in a yawn and she glanced at the clock.

"Yeah, he's in his room. How are you feeling today?" Jellal scooted to the edge of the bed where Erza was lifting herself into a sitting position.

"Tired but that's nothing new. I don't know how I'll make it another two months. I feel like a whale." Her hand brushed the large swell of her belly and Jellal smiled.

"You do _not_ look like a whale."

"I said I _felt_ like one, smart ass." Erza smirked and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. " _Please_ tell me you picked up dinner. I'm starving."

"I didn't even think about it, but Rogue can order out in a minute."

"Mmkay." She yawned again and leaned into his side. "Tell me again how this happened?"

"Well, when a man and a woman really love each other, sometimes –"

"Ugh, you're awful. That lesson should go more like, _Don't forget your birth control when you go on spring vacation, ladies!_ "

"Do you regret it?" he asked carefully.

Erza looked up at him and smiled tiredly. "No. There's no one else in the world I'd rather be in this position with."

"I think this all _started_ with a certain position, right?" He leaned in and nudged her nose with his.

"If you're trying to be a comedian, don't quit your day job, Jellal." Erza tilted her head and kissed him soundly. "If you don't feed me in the next half hour I may start eating members of this household," she whispered.

"Okay, okay. I'll have Rogue call in some delivery. Do you need any help?"

She glared at him. "I'm pregnant not an invalid."

Much later that night, after Rogue had been sent to bed, Erza walked back into the kitchen wrapped in her bathrobe. Jellal placed the last of the dishes in the dishwasher and raised his eyebrows.

"It's a little late for a swim, isn't it?"

"My back is killing me," she said with a grimace. "Join me? We won't have many more warm nights before things get cold."

"Yeah, okay, I'll just grab my suit –"

"Don't bother." She winked at him and left the robe on the nearest patio chair. Jellal stared after her and decided that even at nearly seven months pregnant she was the most enticing creature he'd ever seen. Not once since their move had he regretted the added expense and responsibility of the pool. Its presence benefitted him _enormously_ – Erza had taken a liking to late night skinny dipping. At first he'd protested that Rogue would catch them one day, but so far that hadn't happened. The boy's bedroom window faced the street and he was as sound a sleeper as his mother.

"Right," Jellal whispered as he pulled off his shirt and followed her outside.

The view from the pool was an expanse of stars that were as visible as they could be in the city of Magnolia and Erza stared up at them as she floated weightlessly in the shallow end of the pool. Jellal's fingers worked into the muscles of her lower back.

"What about Erik?" she asked. "That's a nice name."

"How do you know it's a boy? Did they do another ultrasound?"

"No, I just have a feeling." Erza's doctor had done three ultrasounds in an attempt to determine the baby's gender but to no avail. The positioning was always just a little too twisted or a leg was in the way.

"What if it's a girl?"

"Lisanna is a good name, I think."

"They're positive it's only _one_ , right?" Early in Erza's pregnancy a nurse had joked about a heartbeat echo, and Jellal hadn't ever quite swallowed the fear of twins.

"Yes," she laughed. "There's only one."

"Erza –" She waited for him to finish and when he didn't, she swiveled her body around to face him. His cheeks still flushed an adorable pink when he was faced with saying sentimental things and Erza loved it. She kissed the apple of his right cheek just over the red swirl that marked his face.

"What is it?"

"I thought maybe I could do this better but I'm starting to realize that there's just no perfect way." He sighed and touched the floating strands of her hair. "I love you, Erza. And I –" He sighed and licked his lips. "Will you marry me?"

Erza laughed softly and slid her arms around his neck fluidly. "Of course I'll marry you; you fool… if you don't mind waiting until I'm not as big as a house."

"I can wait," he whispered. "Though, I think Lady Falcon will have something to say about the baby being born to a couple still living in sin."

"Yeah, well, I've heard all those arguments before and she can keep her opinions to herself. I'm not feeling very charitable lately." Erza propelled herself as close to him as possible in her enlarged state and kissed him languidly. "I love you too, Jellal, and –" She sighed and laid her head against his shoulder. "I wouldn't change a single thing."

Jellal leaned back against the edge of the pool and gazed up at the sky as his fingers continued to tangle in Erza's hair. Life was indeed a messy adventure that didn't leave room for rose petals and romance, but he didn't mind the clutter. Sometimes a person wound up with a beautiful mosaic that was greater than the sum of its scattered parts.


End file.
